“I’m not giving up, I still believe in it” – Former Quick-Step prospect fights to keep pro cycling dream alive as 2026 season begins without contract

As the professional peloton begins to roll back into motion, with January training camps underway and the first races of the new campaign approaching, the margins for riders without a contract are shrinking fast. Teams are already focused on performance, logistics and objectives for the year ahead, leaving little room for late market movement.

Yet for Antoine Huby, stepping away is not an option.

“I’m doing everything possible to secure a contract, but unfortunately, I don’t have anything in my hands yet,” Huby said recently in conversation with Le Telegramme. “Yes, there have been a few initial contacts, but we are still a long way from being able to finalise an agreement. Even so, I’m not giving up, I still believe in it.”

Those words capture the reality facing the 24-year-old Frenchman as the 2026 season begins without him attached to a team, following the end of his two-year stint at Soudal - Quick-Step. Signed from Vendee U Pays de la Loire ahead of the 2024 campaign, Huby entered the WorldTour with promise but was not retained by the Belgian squad when contracts were renewed.

Huby’s situation is all the more striking given how sharply his trajectory had risen only a few seasons earlier. As an amateur, he built a strong reputation through results that marked him out as one of France’s more interesting stage-race prospects. In 2023, he finished second at Liege-Bastogne-Liege Espoirs and claimed overall victory at the Course de la Paix, performances that helped open the door to the professional ranks.

The transition, however, proved more complicated. Like many young riders stepping directly into a WorldTour environment, Huby found opportunities limited and continuity hard to establish. Results that had come naturally at under-23 level did not immediately translate among cycling’s elite, and the margins for error were slim.

Still, Huby insists his commitment has not wavered, even as the calendar moves on without him. “I’m continuing to behave as if I already had a contract for next year, training with the same mindset as someone who has to start their season in January or February,” he explained to Le Telegramme. “That’s because I want to remain attractive on the market and because, if a team does get in touch, I want to be immediately ready.”

There is no attempt to dress up the challenge. Finding a team once the season has effectively begun is difficult, and Huby acknowledges the situation for what it is. But at 24, he remains convinced that his development is not complete and that the level he showed as an amateur has not yet fully emerged in the professional peloton.

That belief underpins his approach through the winter, training alone but with the same routine and intensity he would follow under contract. The logic is simple. If an opportunity appears, hesitation cannot be part of the equation.

Everything now depends on one outcome, and one outcome only. Huby’s ambition for 2026 is not about specific races or results. It is about staying in the sport he believes he has not yet finished exploring.

The mission is clear, even if the path is not: find a team, and keep the professional dream alive.