“For next season, I don’t have a team yet” – Spanish CX trailblazer Felipe Orts facing uncertain future despite best winter of his career

For a rider enjoying the most convincing winter of his career, Felipe Orts should be talking about momentum and continuity. Instead, Spain’s leading cyclocross figure finds himself confronting a far more uncomfortable reality.

“For next season, I don’t have a team yet,” Orts said in conversation with Sporza, confirming that his future remains unresolved despite a run of results that underline his value at the international level.

“My manager and I are working on it," the Spaniard added. "There are talks, but nothing is official yet. I hope something nice comes out of it.”

The uncertainty does not stem from a dip in form. Quite the opposite.

The 2025/26 campaign has arguably been the most complete of Orts’ career. Another Spanish national title came almost as routine, but his winter has been defined far more by what he has delivered beyond domestic competition.

Podium finishes on the international circuit and repeated relevance deep into elite Belgian and Dutch races have reinforced a trend that has been building for several seasons. This is no longer about isolated peaks or one-off performances. Orts has looked competitive across the heart of the calendar, managing attritional races and maintaining intensity when fields have thinned, and margins tightened.

That consistency is what separates this winter from previous strong campaigns. Rather than relying on selective highlights, Orts has raised his baseline, appearing regularly in the decisive phases of races against established northern European opposition.

At 30, Orts sits firmly in what should be a stabilising phase of his career. Teams know what he offers: reliability, resilience and the ability to deliver visible results on demanding courses. This is not a farewell winter or a late-career revival. It looks like the prime of his competitive window.

Yet the folding of Team Ridley has shifted the ground beneath him. The insecurity he faces is structural, not sporting. His performances have not triggered doubt; they have unfolded alongside it.

That disconnect sharpens the tension at the heart of his season. A rider delivering his strongest, most internationally credible winter is simultaneously navigating an uncertain future, dependent on conversations still unresolved as the campaign progresses.

Even recent podiums, such as his second place behind Niels Vandeputte in Lille, serve more as confirmation than headline moments. Orts acknowledged the level required simply to stay in contention, noting how relentlessly the race was driven at the front. The bigger picture, however, extends far beyond any one afternoon.

Across the winter, Orts has continued to justify his status as Spain’s benchmark in cyclocross, while quietly strengthening his case as a fixture rather than an outlier at the top level of the sport.

Whether that body of work translates into security for next season remains unresolved. As Orts himself made clear, talks are ongoing, but clarity has yet to arrive. For a rider doing everything right on the course, the next decisive move may come off it.