"I expect important purchases from INEOS Grenadiers" - Rider agent looks ahead to the opening of transfer window

Not a rider, but his name will be still mentioned more than often in coming months - that's rider super-agent Alex Carera of the A&J All Sports agency. Involved with world's best riders including Tadej Pogacar, this Italian knows the ins and outs of transfer market better than anyone else. With the transfer window opening in a little more than month, he shared a few observations.

"No, it doesn't exist anymore. Sure, there are UCI rules that establish that announcements can only be made after August 1, but negotiations take place well in advance," Carera tells Bici.pro when asked if there is still anything that can be called a "negotiation period".

"Another aspect that has changed a lot in the transfer market is that teams, with strong and promising young riders, don't wait for the contract to expire. They even start planning the extension the year before." Carera illustrates this one of the young stars under his wing: "Take Giulio Pellizzari who has a contract with Red Bull-Bora until 2027: after the Giro d'Italia, people have already started talking about his future."

If you hesitate too long, you could come out empty-handed. "If a strong rider expires on December 31, 2026, you can't wait: you've already lost him in October 2025, another team will surely have already found an agreement. This is why contracts are extended earlier."

Buy-out clauses are also a practice that has become more common in recent years: "Teams insert release clauses, also in light of what happened with Cian Uijtdebroeks and Maxime Van Gils: Belgian law allows you to release yourself even without a clause, prevailing over the UCI rules. So teams protect themselves, and we agents do it too, by adding clauses that protect the young athlete."

It's already a difficult puzzle, but then the UCI ranking comes into play, and all teams at the bottom-half of the WorldTour category value riders who can consistently deliver points across the year. "Teams like Cofidis, Picnic-PostNL, Intermarché - Wanty, Arkéa-B&B Hotels and Jayco-AlUla also evaluate a rider based on the points he can bring, given the fight to stay in the WorldTour," Carera confirms.

What can we look forward to on the transfer market in 2025? "I expect important purchases from INEOS Grenadiers," Carera shares his opinion. "Ineos needs to strengthen. They are a great team, but they have some gaps. I expect them to finally invest in a youth sector, because they are one of the very few teams without a real Devo."

But there are also teams who could break out some chaos immediately from August 1. We're talking about teams in the relegation battle with empty team spots: "Considering that Romain Bardet left Picnic, they will have space. The same goes for Intermarché and Cofidis: they are the three teams that could act to save what can be saved."