INEOS Grenadiers joins UAE Team Emirates - XRG in the fight for Paul Seixas' possible transfer

Paul Seixas is likely the rider who is the most shining diamond in the cycling transfer market at the moment, although he does still have a contract for next season. Not only UAE Team Emirates - XRG is looking to sign the Frenchman into the 2028 season but it can now also be understood that INEOS Grenadiers has joined the race.

This has been reported by journalist Daniel Benson, who holds close contacts with the British team and has informed that INEOS is also having interest in the signing of Seixas. This follows shortly after the news that the British team is going to have a new title sponsor in a Danish IT company, which The Times has reported it being Netcompany. The budget of the team is unlikely to change from its already very high €45-50 million a year budget, but instead replace INEOS itself as a sponsor for the team - whilst TotalEnergies will be the second title sponsor from 2027 onwards.

Most of the world's best in the sport currently are signed in strong and long-term contracts: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel, Mads Pedersen, Wout Van Aert... The list goes on and on. This makes it exponentially hard for teams to sign new leaders capable of winning the world's biggest races, even if the budget is very high.

This winter we've seen Remco Evenepoel move into Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe; Oscar Onley moved into INEOS Grenadiers; whilst Juan Ayuso and Derek Gee were signed by Lidl-Trek. All four riders entered 2025 with a contract that would lead them into 2026 in the same team, but they were either broken or bought out. Such a situation can't be predicted beforehand already, and most teams put their main emphasis into scouting, and signing the biggest under-23 and junior talents from a young age and with large long-term contracts right from the get-go.

The signings of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, modest this winter, reflect the difficulty of bringing in new leaders unless there is a large budget at hand. Hence although Seixas still has one year and nine months left in his contract with Decathlon CMA CGM Team, ending in 2027. Rival teams are already working heavily to gain contacts, familiarity and perhaps gather interest from the 19-year old Frenchman, whose results at a young age have brought in a wave of attention that can't be ignore by anyone in the peloton. It is the search for a new Tour de France winner and perhaps the only rider on the market who has a very high potential of doing so within this decade - if he is able to live up to the potential many see in him.