"Cyclists are being held hostage": The President of the CPA, disappointed by the Lotto-Intermarché merger
Cycling
Looking ahead to 2026, one of the expected developments in the World Tour peloton is the formation of a new team born from the merger between Lotto and Intermarché - Wanty. The two outfits have merged and will race under the former's first division license. However, the President of the CPA (Professional Cyclists' Association) is trying to overturn this as much as possible.
For Adam Hansen, this partnership between Lotto and Intermarché is creating a bleak situation. Why? Because there will be 30 places in the team and 43 riders fighting for them. But not only that, there will also be others who want to leave and cannot.
Speaking to Sporza, the President of the CPA has kept his position very clear:
"As a WorldTour team, you can have a maximum of 30 riders under contract; together, both teams have 43. From the new team's perspective, it's an ideal situation: they can simply choose who they want to continue with and who they don't," he began by noting.
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"But from the cyclists' point of view it's unfair, because they are held hostage by this situation. As long as they have a contract in force, they can't leave the team. So they have no choice but to wait for news," he added.
"Even riders who were 100 percent certain they would stay came to me to ask if they were in or out. That shows how bad the communication between the team and the riders is."
Biniam Girmay and Arnaud de Lie, in the spotlight of the Lotto-Intermarché merger
Hansen believes the key is Girmay
"A lot depends on Biniam Girmay. If he decides to stay with the merged team after all, then a rider will still lose his job. I also know a rider who was on the discard list and had found another team. However, the merged team did not let him go, because they were still hesitating about whether to keep him or not," commented Adam Hansen.
"That suggests that Lotto and Intermarché were not entirely honest with the UCI and with us when they showed that list of casualties. That's what I mean when I say that the riders are hostages. Teams can decide whether to keep a rider on his contract or not, but the rider can't decide whether he wants to stay or not."
Belgian legislation stands in the way: "That law allows teams to wait, even until, say, December 31, to inform the riders. That's the sad reality."
"If a rider finds out in July or August that he can't stay and doesn't find a team for the following year, it's partly his fault. But if he only finds out in October or November, as in this case, then it's the team's fault. All the squads are already full for 2026, and that's not fair," he concluded.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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