Pedal Punditry #17 | The 5 most important transfers of 2024-2025

The year 2024 has come to a close. Tomorrow starts a new season with new jerseys to be revealed, new colours everywhere for riders who have changed teams. We take a look back at some of the most meaningful transfers of the past few months.

As we have been able to see, less and less top riders have been moving teams in recent years, however that does not mean these have stopped. However this list is not based on UCI points or specific results, but a view into the bigger picture and my opinion on which transfers may make the most difference in the cycling world.

Niklas Behrens opens up this highly renowned list already. A rider that was scouted through social media last winter, managed to secure a contract with the Lidl-Trek's development team for 2024 and went on to have a brilliant season, wrapped off with a win at the Zurich World Championships' under-23 event.

The most surprising part of it is the fact that Behrens is almost 2 meters tall and weighs around 80Kg, and was the winner of a highly hilly course, in which the world's best climber won at the elite ranks. Behrens is a rider with a sprint of at least 1800 watts which has already been proven in 2023, but he has shown incredibly power for longer-duration efforts, long races and even climbing, making him one of the absolute most desired riders in the peloton at that point.

However Team Visma | Lease a Bike were aware of the German's talent, and reportedly there had already been contact before his World Championships performance. It was the biggest 'steal' of the winter, and one of the most promising transfers in the last few years. With the right guidance and training, Behrens could become the 'new Van Aert' as some already commented.

Visma snatched 4th place as well with their biggest transfer of the winter. Behrens, Victor Campenaerts and Axel Zingle already made for quality signings, but a new leader has come aboard. Simon Yates may have won his first and only Grand Tour 6 years ago but by all means he has managed to increase his climbing level alongside the emerging generations that followed his wins. In 2023, he was fourth at the Tour de France even, his best ever result in the Grand Boucle.

In 2024 the 32-year old did not have such a bright year - he won the AlUla Tour, but at the Tour de France his stage-hunting goals were not accomplished due to other riders in great form - but he still showed great climbing legs. At Visma he could see a performance boost as did his twin brother Adam when he joined UAE Team Emirates, and a new run of motivation, but most importantly it's his potential role at the Tour de France that could be key.

This year Visma had Sepp Kuss fall ill and miss out on the Grand Boucle, and whilst Matteo Jorgenson proved to be a very talented right-hand man for the Dane, Visma simply lacked the depth to drain Tadej Pogacar in the long mountain days and Vingegaard could never make the difference. In previous years it's become obvious that it's in the endurance aspect that Vingegaard may match Pogacar, and these two should fight for the Tour de France win again in 2025.

Signing Yates means that Vingegaard will have a new and very strong weapon to use in the mountains. Tactically speaking we wouldn't say Yates can put the Slovenian under pressure, but it can give the Dutch team the chance to - like in 2022 and 2023 - have the upper hand in some mountain days and deploy their tactic of choice against a Pogacar and UAE that will be forced to respond accordingly.

Tudor Pro Cycling Team have guarranteed themselves virtually a wildcard to the Tour de France. This year they were present at the Giro and throughout the year proved to be close to several World Tour outfits. This year Israel - Premier Tech, Lotto Dstny and TotalEnergies are likely to receive a wildcard for the Grand Boucle, but spot number 4 is going to be between Tudor and Uno-X certainly. Uno-X had it this year, but Tudor signed two big stars, and the team is now backed by Red Bull whilst having Fabian Cancellara in the management.

There are plenty arguments, and the fact that one of the big signings is none other than the superstar Julian Alaphilippe... The Swiss team is set to take the cake. Alaphilippe is not the same rider he was a few years ago (specially because of injuries and illnesses that hampered him in 2022 and 2023) but he remains an incredibly popular rider due to his aggressive and wild style of racing. This year he also won a stage at the Giro d'Italia with this tactic, proving he's still got it. He finished second at the Clásica San Sebastián, and the rider who beat him will also be his teammate next year: Marc Hirschi.

The fact that a non-World Tour team managed to sign Hirschi, a Top10 rider in the current peloton in terms of UCI points, with no 'strings attached', is impressive. A Swiss rider in a Swiss team that has high ambitions, it's a perfectly timed signing. Hirschi won San Sebastián, the Bretagne Classic and seven other races this year, once again showing his very best level and taking UAE Team Emirates to the top of the charts.

The two are classics specialists which should assure Tudor is present and active in the classics season, but they should also headline the team at the Tour; whilst Matteo Trentin will be just as important; and the likes of Arvid de Kleijn and Alberto Dainese are capable of netting World Tour wins in the sprints throughout the year.

Torres is a snatch, and UAE have already signed him until 2030 alongside Tadej Pogacar (and in the meantime Jan Christen as well). The team know who they had on their ranks and took no time to bring him onto the elite team. He will be the third youngest World Tour rider next year, only behind Albert Philipsen and Paul Seixas. A discovery of Spanish scout Joxean Matxin, a key figure of UAE, the team has signed him knowing that he has the potential to become one of the greats.

Alongside Jarno Widar, the two have shown the most potential out of the under-23 climbers this year, despite both being incredibly young. Torres already raced with the elite team on several occasions this year and will be ready for his first pro year, freshly turned 19, the same age that the team had both Tadej Pogacar and Juan Ayuso turn pro recently. Round 3 for the rider who finished second at the under-23 Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.

However what makes Torres the most special was his performance on stage 6 of the Tour de l'Avenir, the final day of the race. Torres did not win the GC after having lost the key move the day before, and the yellow jersey was conquered by Joe Blackmore. However on this day Torres put in a ride of a lifetime at only 18 years of age, winning on the Colle delle Finestre on a stage that was almost completely flat until the base of the monster Alpine ascent. He put in a whole... 3:43 minutes into the second placed rider Blackmore, whilst only Tijmen Graat was also able to finish within five minutes of the Spaniard.

Of course many factors are present, but Torres beat the record on the Finestre of José Rujano in 2011 by over a minute, and by several minutes the times of Mikel Landa and Chris Froome at the 2015 and 2018 Giri. He is said to have averaged over 6W/Kg during this effort which is an unreal performance for a rider of such age, and if he improves at the regular pace he could in the coming years quickly become a contender for Grand Tour victories.

There is no doubt in my mind however that this is the transfer that marks this winter. INEOS Grenadiers, one of the world's top teams, with one of the top budgets, signed one of Britain's brightest talents in 2021. Pidcock was a cyclocross World Champion, two time Olympic Champion in Mountain Biking... And on the road he won a stage of the Tour de France in the Alpe d'Huez and was victorious in races such as Strade Bianche and Amstel Gold Race. A supertalent, like few in the sport's history, but he's had to make choices, and often couldn't perform his best on the road because of his (logical) focus in the other disciplines where he's won incredibly important titles.

Pidcock had a salary reported of around €4 million, and three years left of contract with the team. However relations were not the best, as the Netflix documentary on the 2023 Tour seemed to show an internal collision with DS Steven Cummings. It's still not clear to this day whether this really was the case or not, with Pidcock, Cummings and annonimous team staff having different versions of their relationship. Before the Tour this year, Pidcock said the team wouldn't choose his objectives, but he would choose his own. The team, not able to match in any way the likes of UAE and Visma that began their own battle for the Tour in recent years, had a difficult Tour where not even the strong Carlos Rodríguez could save them - unlike 2023 where he did on one occasion outsmart Pogacar and Vingegaard to an impressive stage win.

Pidcock wanted to aim for the GC after a promising 2023, but in 2024 his preparation was far from ideal, and he gave up on those ambitions. He wasn't set to be a domestique, taking into consideration his salary but also his role in the team, but he came short of saving his Tour by winning a stage - he was second on the famous 'gravel day'. He abandoned the race shortly after. He returned in the Olympics to actually win the MTB race, despite the less than ideal preparation.

On the road he looked to be back to great form, finishing second to Tadej Pogacar at the Giro dell'Emilia, but was then sidelined from Il Lombardia with no reason given. Zak Dempster, INEOS DS, said he did not want this and it was a decision from the team management, not only detrimental to Pidcock's ambitions but in all honesty to the team, who failed to fight for a meaningful result, whilst leaving Pidcock in Italy with a premature end to the season. Days prior, a rumour surged of communication with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, a very unusual team on paper, but one with some logic as it was owned by Ivan Glasenberg, the owner of the Pinarello bikes who are a personal sponsor of Pidcock.

But then the situation stabilized, Pidcock was present at a team build camp in November... It seemed as if the deals were off. Until Pidcock was not present at the team's first training camp in Spain. The situation quickly escalated, and the Briton's departure from the team was confirmed by sources in the area before INEOS could even announce it. Q36.5 snatched him, fair and square, alongside his coach Kurt Bogaerts, soigneur Xenia de Roose, and even his brother Joe into the Swiss team. It is a massive move for the Swiss team that overnight became a big hitter to watch out for in 2025. He rides Scott bikes on the road, but Pinarello off-road, making him a rather unique rider, who is single-handedly bringing the entire cycling fandom to the until this year under-the-radar team who patiently waited to strike hard.