With most of the marquee moves of this transfer season already announced – and with only two months left before the 2025 WorldTour season starts – now seems like the perfect time to take stock of how teams across the pro peloton are changing going into the new year. There were few A-listers on the market this year, with all of the so-called Big Six staying put, but a handful of marquee riders are indeed on the move and plenty of teams are undergoing significant changes.
Some are definitely getting better. Others are losing a lot more firepower than they are gaining. And in a few cases … it’s hard to say. Here are some of the winners and losers of the 2024-2025 transfer season.
Four teams that are definitely getting better
Astana Qazaqstan
Big arrivals: Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), Sergio Higuita (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), Mike Teunissen (Intermarché-Wanty), Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost)*
Big departures: Mark Cavendish (retires), Alexey Lutsenko (Israel-Premier Tech)
The WorldTour team undergoing the biggest roster-wide transformation is Astana Qazaqstan. The team is losing some of its big names – sprint legend Mark Cavendish and Astana stalwart Alexey Lutsenko – but replacing them with several talented arrivals. They invested heavily in the sprints for 2024, but in 2025 they will have potential winners on a variety of terrains, all in an effort to rack up UCI points to stave off relegation. It seems extremely unlikely that they will achieve that goal, but Diego Ulissi’s presence could help. You may not have seen much of him in the biggest races for UAE this season, but he was very busy in smaller events, and will be a worthy leader in races like the Tour of Poland where UCI points are very much on offer even if the international recognition is less forthcoming.
Sergio Higuita and Wout Poels both have potential in one-week races – a good way to get UCI points – and can be mountain stagehunters for the Grand Tours too. Mike Teunissen and Alberto Bettiol give the team some Classics oomph. As noted by the above asterisk, Bettiol technically joined at the end of this racing season before “transfer season” proper, but he is another major acquisition. He enjoyed a resurgence of form this year and is a legitimate Classics contender, which Astana sorely lacked this season. Kiwi road champ Aaron Gate is also quite good at performing in smaller races where UCI points are nonetheless available.
None of these names is likely to challenge for entry into cycling’s Big Six any time soon, but they represent a big step up from the 2024 roster, and it is that relative difference that matters here. Astana’s 2025 lineup will have multiple riders capable of taking WorldTour wins, and that’s a significant change: Mark Cavendish’s record-breaking stage win at the Tour de France was indeed Astana’s only WorldTour win this season.
Tudor Pro Cycling
Big arrivals: Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step)
Big departures: Sebastian Reichenbach (retires)
Another team getting a major upgrade is Tudor Pro Cycling, and without really losing any huge names either; the headline departee is Sebastian Reichenbach, who is retiring. They aren’t a first-division squad, and we’re generally focusing on the WorldTour here, but they are getting two star riders from the WorldTour, and frankly, they will have a roster worthy of a WorldTour team. In Marc Hirschi and Julian Alaphilippe, Tudor will have a legitimate shot of challenging the stranglehold that the Big Six have had on Liège-Bastogne-Liège for years. It’s a bit odd that the Swiss team acquired both riders seeing as they have such similar skillets; Alaphilippe seems a bit like a luxury when Hirschi is a natural fit given his connections with team owner Fabian Cancellara.
Hirschi was, in fact, the sixth-ranked rider in the world in 2024, having enjoyed a particularly brilliant summer and early autumn. He took five one-day wins in a row (two of them at the WorldTour level) starting with the Clasica San Sebastián this August. In a previous era, before the sport became so hyper-focused on a tiny handful of riders, his transfer would certainly garner more attention. Racing on UAE in the shadow of the best rider in the world, however, Hirschi has flown under the radar a bit.
In any case, he and Alaphilippe will form a dynamic duo in the hillier one-days and stages in stage races, and it would be a surprise if Tudor didn’t finish the 2025 season with better results than a handful of WorldTour squads. Marco Haller (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Larry Warbasse (Decathlon-Ag2r la Mondiale) add experience and depth.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
Big arrivals: Jan Tratnik (Visma-Lease a Bike), Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ), Oier Lazkano (Movistar), Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Team Emirates)
Big departures: Sergio Higuita (Astana Qazaqstan), Max Schachmann (Soudal-Quick Step)
The third member of the most improved club, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe gets here with some smaller names. In short: The German squad has a real Classics team now. Jordi Meeus showed promise in 2024, but now he will be joined on the pavé by fast-rising Kiwi Laurence Pithie, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Jan Tratnik, and multi-talented Spaniard Oier Lazkano. Speaking of Kiwis, Finn Fisher-Black is a rare youngster with real potential that UAE Team Emirates has not locked up longterm, and Red Bull can now hope to watch as he develops into a budding star.
Red Bull did lose some experienced vets (like Max Schachmann, Bob Jungels, and Marco Haller) and the aforementioned Higuita to Astana, but frankly his results were little to write home about in 2024, and the team is restocking with some very promising – and young – riders for 2025 and beyond. We’re starting to see that big Red Bull budget in action.
Visma-Lease a Bike
Big arrivals: Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla), Alex Zingle (Cofidis), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny), Niklas Behrens (Lidl-Trek Future)
Big departures: Jan Tratnik (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Robert Gesink (retires)
And then there is Visma-Lease a Bike, a team that is losing Tratnik as well as some youngsters with potential like Johannes Staune-Mittet (off to Decathlon-Ag2r la Mondiale), but bringing others into the fold, along with a Grand Tour winner as well. Simon Yates did not have a great 2024 campaign but he was very good in 2023 and he does have that Vuelta a España win on his palmares. He is also leaving a squad where he was the main GC guy and coming into a place that could be better for him at this point in his career. Visma, stacked with talent, does not need him to be the top dog for the Grand Tours. Instead, he can play a valuable support role for Jonas Vingegaard while aiming for his own chances outside of the Tour de France, with perhaps a bit less pressure.
Younger incoming talents like Axel Zingle and Niklas Behrens have potential to make a quick impact. Zingle is further along in his career and enjoyed has steadily delivered better and better results every year since turning pro with Cofidis in 2022. He profiles as a versatile Classics racer who can help bolster Visma’s already strong lineup in the hillier one-days. Meanwhile, they’re also elevating three talents from their development team including Tijmen Graat (third overall at the Tour de l’Avenir). But the biggest devo coup was signing Behrens from Lidl-Trek Future just after he won an under-23 world title in Switzerland. That’s a pile of good reasons for Visma to be optimistic about bouncing back after a frustrating 2024 campaign.
One team that might(?) be getting better
Jayco-AlUla
Big arrivals: Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-Ag2r la Mondiale), Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory off-road)
Big departures: Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Few teams are undergoing more significant changes than Jayco-AlUla, and the moves from this transfer season will net a big increase in UCI points – but it’s hard to say definitively whether those moves are for the better. Ben O’Connor brings plenty of those points after a brilliant 2024 campaign, and the vibes of Jayco finally having an Australian leader are immaculate. That said, he is replacing a departing Simon Yates, who is an actual Grand Tour winner. Yates is coming off a down year, but at his best he seems at least as likely as O’Connor to take wins in the biggest races.
O’Connor seemed like an odd fit at Decathlon (Tour de France: Unchained anyone?) and Jayco is probably a better environment for him. Still, it’s unclear whether the sometimes-inconsistent O’Connor will lead his new team to more success in 2025 and beyond than what they had before. Yates was inconsistent too, but with a whopping 10 Grand Tour stage wins to his name, he has a stronger palmarès than O’Connor and maybe a higher ceiling, even at three years older. Only time will tell how it all pans out for Jayco with a new marquee rider.
23-year-old Dutchman Jelte Krijnsen, his 30-year-old compatriot Koen Bouwman, and 28-year-old Brit Paul Double are under-the-radar pickups from other road squads worth mentioning, while World Mountain Bike (XCO) Champion Alan Hatherly is coming aboard with the intention of racing a more robust road campaign for the next two years. It remains to be seen how well he will do but obviously there is potential for him to make waves in his first WorldTour season. All told, it’s probably a net win for Jayco, but swapping Yates for O’Connor is a bit less of a smash hit than just the 2024 numbers would imply.
One team that might(?) be getting worse
Intermarché-Wanty
Big arrivals: None
Big departures: Madis Mikhels (EF Education-EasyPost)
If there’s one team that outperformed its expectations in 2024, it’s Intermarché-Wanty. A 2025 repeat looks questionable; the team is not losing or gaining any superstars, but it seems more likely than not that the under-the-radar changes are for the worse. The one that could have the biggest long term impact is the loss of Madis Mikhels to EF. The young Estonian has real potential and a team that lacks marquee riders outside of Biniam Girmay could really use someone like that to build around. Meanwhile, Mike Teunissen was a reliable part of their Classics and sprinting squads, but he will be taking his talents to Astana. A lot of veteran talent – Lilian Calmejane, Boy van Poppel and (increasingly likely) Taco van de Hoorn are all out.
All that said, the team is bringing on a handful of relatively young riders – like Louis Barré from Arkéa-B&B Hotels – not all that removed from being under-23 prospects. Maybe one of them will pan out and then we’ll be able to talk about the solid talent scouting at Intermarché, the team that found diamonds in the rough that other squads allowed to walk. Or maybe Mikhels will improve on the top-10 he secured at Paris-Roubaix at just 20 years old and Intermarché will be left wondering what might have been.
Four teams that are definitely getting worse
UAE Team Emirates
Big arrivals: Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers), Pablo Torres (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z)
Big departures: Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling), Diego Ulissi (Astana Qazaqstan), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
Of the four teams that got worse the most this transfer season, one seems unlikely to be all that bothered by the fact that they are bidding farewell to thousands of UCI points. Let’s start there; it’s a team that might surprise you. Nobody in the peloton is giving up as much talent with so little return as UAE Team Emirates.
We’ve already mentioned the three big names leaving the team: Fisher-Black, Ulissi, and Hirschi. Hirschi is the biggest departure, the sort of rider that no other team would want to lose … except for the fact that he happens to specialize in hilly one-day races and UAE happens to have the rider who has won Il Lombardia an incredible four times in a row and Liège-Bastogne-Liège twice. Hirschi has yet to enjoy anywhere close to such success in the Monuments and was unlikely to get unquestioned leadership chances at UAE, so it seems like a reasonable parting of ways on both sides. In other words, UAE can afford this loss – but that doesn’t mean Hirschi isn’t a big loss. He did win the Clásica San Sebastián and ride to second at Flèche Wallonne this year and no one else in the team other than Pogačar is likely to deliver results like that in 2025.
Jhonatan Narváez is coming aboard after a career year with the Ineos Grenadiers, and he will definitely bolster the UAE Classics squad, but it will hardly make up for what the team is losing. The other most notable “newcomer” for 2025 is Pablo Torres, the Spanish wunderkind who is stepping up from UAE’s development team and thus not really a transfer. As far as transfers go, UAE mostly lost talent without gaining much in return, but they can afford to, and they still seem plenty likely to dominate the competition next year.
Arkéa-B&B Hotels
Big arrivals: none
Big departures: Clément Champoussin (Astana Qazaqstan), Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost), Daniel McLay (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Unfortunately for Arkéa-B&B Hotels, they are in a different boat. Staring down the prospect of relegation, they really can’t afford to lose talented riders, but they are losing them just the same, amid rumors the team is in trouble. Just the scale – 10 riders out and only five in – paints the picture. Arkéa is in a tough spot, facing likely relegation but also sponsor uncertainty. Team manager Emmanuel Hubert has told his riders that they can look elsewhere and he isn’t signing anyone long term, which is the noble thing to do when it’s unclear if your team will exist in two years – but it’s also a recipe for not keeping your key riders in the fold. It’s not as if Arkéa is losing any household names, but they are bidding farewell to two of the more talented riders in the squad in Clément Champoussin and Vincenzo Albanese.
They are replacing them with a handful of promising but entirely unproven youngsters from their development team. It’s the sort of move that might make sense from a team like UAE that does not need riders like Champoussin and Albanese to score points – but Arkéa seems even less likely now to stay in the top division if it doesn’t fold altogether. If one of the incoming riders turns out to be the next big thing, and if the team continues to survive, and if they can hold onto those young talents long term despite the likely demotion, then we’ll look back on this transfer season differently … but that’s a lot of ifs.
Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
Big arrivals: Stefan Bisseger (EF Education-EasyPost)
Big departures: Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quick Step)
Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale is, at least, not likely to be relegated, but they are similarly watching talented riders walk without replacing them with sufficient firepower. O’Connor is the biggest departure, fresh off a runner-up ride in a Grand Tour in theoretically in his athletic prime. That’s the sort of rider you try to lock up instead of letting him go. You could say the same thing about Alex Baudin, who is on the rise and young too. Instead of taking Decathlon to new heights as he continues to develop, he is headed to EF Education-EasyPost. Valentin Paret-Peintre, just 23 and a Giro d’Italia stage winner? Also gone.
Meanwhile, EF’s Stefan Bissegger is the highest-profile arrival, and he has shown flashes in the past, but he’s a specialist in a crowded discipline. Wins are hard to come by for time trialists, and Bissegger is coming off a quiet season, so it’s hard to have too much optimism that he’ll be winning Grand Tour stages or rainbow jerseys with his new team.
Perhaps more likely to bolster Decathlon’s results is Johannes Staune-Mittet, coming over from Visma. Still just 22, he was a promising prospect when he joined that team and might have a bright future in his new team – although one wonders how optimistic Decathlon can be about a rider that Visma developed and was content to allow to leave. Tord Gudmestad is another arrival worth watching as he comes over from Uno-X Mobility. He’s not a big name but he has potential in the one-day races, which is at least something for Decathlon fans to be excited about. There are also some promising promotions from Decathlon’s devo team, like Leo Bisiaux and junior World Time Trial Champion Paul Seixas.
Groupama-FDJ
Big arrivals: Guilaume Martin (Cofidis), Rémi Cavagna (Movistar)
Big departures: Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
With apologies to France, Groupama-FDJ is also definitely getting worse, losing not one but two of their most promising young stars in Laurence Pithie and Lenny Martinez. Their results in the Classics and the stage races are sure to suffer in 2025, and losing out on the potential longterm success of riders with such talent will hurt too; Martinez is just 21 and Pithie is 22.
Guillaume Martin is the marquee incoming rider, and a French team does need a French mountain goat – but at this point in Martin’s career (he’s 31), it’s hard to see him fighting for anything more than the fringes of a Grand Tour top 10. Rémi Cavagna had his worst season ever in 2024 in a brief stay on Movistar, but is a Grand Tour stage winner and solid time triallist. That’s not nothing, but it’s not much to hang a transfer season hat on.
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