With the likes of Geraint Thomas and Rafał Majka — stalwarts for over a decade — leaving professional cycling at the end of the 2025 season, the personnel in the peloton is going to look quite different come January 2026. Other household names like Lizzie Deignan, Romain Bardet, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak and Caleb Ewan all hung up their wheels mid-season for a variety of reasons. 

But there are riders who will still in the bunch next season, only riding in different kits and on different bikes, having transferred from one squad to another. From Remco Evenepoel's diplomatic end to his time at Soudal Quick-Step to Juan Ayuso's fiery split with UAE Team Emirates, we take a look at some of the biggest transfers for the 2026 season. 

Remco Evenepoel - Soudal Quick-Step to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe 

One of the two biggest transfers in the past few seasons was a long time coming, but it wasn't until August this year that Remco Evenepoel confirmed his move away from Soudal Quick-Step, the team he had spent his entire career with up until this point to pastures new and the allure of a growing Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe outfit. 

The move seems to make sense for both parties, with the Wolfpack seemingly going back to their Classics roots with the signing of a few specialists and Evenepoel looking for fresh start to relaunch his Grand Tour career after a frustrating 2025. With the likes of Primož Roglič, Florian Lipowitz and Jai Hindley at Red Bull, there will need to be some tight management decisions on who to back, but if they get things right, the German squad could be a threat to UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike at the Grand Tours in 2026. The double Olympic champion will also still be riding on the Specialized S-Works Tarmac and the Shiv TT bike his new team, which help for the continuity when he makes the switch.  

Read more: The superteam divide grows: What two-tier GC system means for cycling

Juan Ayuso - UAE Team Emirates-XRG to Lidl-Trek

Juan Ayuso's unharmonious split with UAE Team Emirates followed the team at the Vuelta a España like a shadow. However, as much as both parties would have preferred if things had been more amicable, the separation will likely suit both Ayuso and the team. In Tadej Pogačar, João Almeida, Isaac del Toro, they already have three Grand Tour leaders and with the likes of Pablo Torres and Mateo Ramírez coming through the ranks, the roster is already full of GC talent. Like Evenepoel's departure from Quick-Step, Ayuso's move looks like a natural end to his time at UAE — despite it happening in a rather undiplomatic fashion. Ayuso has joined Lidl-Trek, who have been enjoying their most successful season ever in 2025. How he will fit into a squad, which has multiple different goals remains to be seen, but there is no doubting the Spaniard's talent.

Read more: Opinion: The Juan Ayuso drama is proof we need a proper transfer system and limited contracts

Olav Kooij - Visma-Lease a Bike to Decathlon CMA CGM

The best sprinter at the recent Tour of Britain was Olav Kooij who came away with three wins. It has been a successful season for the 23-year-old with two stage wins at the Giro d'Italia in May, but with Visma's focus having been on the general classification at Grand Tours through the likes of Jonas Vingegaard or at the Classics with Wout van Aert, Kooij's racing calendar has always had to fit and around the team's principal goals. Therefore, it's not surprising to see his move to Decathlon CMA CGM, who are expanding their ambitions with a big budget increase. Kooij's main goal will likely be to start his first Tour de France, where he will compete in the bunch sprints. 

Tiesj Benoot - Visma-Lease a Bike to Decathlon CMA CGM

Decathlon CMA CGM have secured the contracts of another Dutch talent from Visma — the domestique and Classics rider, Tiesj Benoot, is moving on from the Dutch outfit after a number of successful seasons with the team. In the cobbled races, he has been a second-tier leader at Visma, with his biggest individual result being a win at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in 2023. Benoot's move to Decathlon might leave him short of support in the Classics, but in terms of his role as a senior figure and domestique, there should be some exciting times ahead for the team he is joining. Looking to the future, the French squad have one of the most talked about talents of the next generation of riders in 18-year-old Paul Seixas. Much of their investment will have to go into holding onto Seixas and build a climbing squad around him so he can challenge for the Tour de France. As Seixas is still young, it is unlikely the 31-year-old Benoot will still be riding at the top level by the time the French rider can compete for the yellow jersey, but he will be a key figure in the squad's development over the next three years. 

Dylan van Baarle - Visma-Lease a Bike to Soudal Quick-Step

Visma have lost the services of another domestique and Classics rider in Dylan van Baarle who has moved to Quick-Step's Wolfpack for the 2026 season. Like Benoot's departure, this is a move that will likely give Van Baarle more leadership opportunity, as Visma look to the future through the likes of Matthew Brennan to lead their Classic's campaigns in the coming years. Due to injuries, Van Baarle didn't manage to reach the same level that he showed in 2022, when riding for Ineos Grenadiers he won Paris-Roubaix and placed second at the Tour of Flanders. At Quick-Step he will be part of a multi-pronged attack at the Classics, a tactic which seems to suit the Dutch rider more than being an out-and-out leader of a team. 

Stefan Küng - Groupama-FDJ to Tudor Procycling Team

The Classics rider and time trialist's move from Groupama to Tudor on paper is more of a loss for the French squad than for Küng. He will be joining a squad which although isn't at WorldTour, will likely be able to offer him more support than he had at Groupama in the major one-day races. Combining his diesel power with the punch of the likes of Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi could be a winning formula at the Classics. The Swiss squad was already punching above its weight this season through the results of Matteo Trentin and Marco Haller.  The move also represents a sort of coming home for the Swiss Küng, who will be back racing on BMC bikes, a brand who raced on back in his BMC Racing Team days in the mid 2010s.

Jasper Stuyven - Lidl-Trek to Soudal Quick-Step

Jasper Stuyven, a Milan-Sanremo winner, has had a successful career at Lidl-Trek and has been with the squad for over a decade. But with the likes of Mads Pedersen and the sprinter Jonathan Milan at the team, Stuyven wasn't often able to go for his own results. At the 2026 'new-old-look' Quick-Step, he may also find the problem. Furthermore, like with the signing of Van Baarle, although it will boost Quick-Step visibility at the Classics, it is still going to be a hard task to put pressure on the likes of Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel at the biggest races, like Flanders and Roubaix. 

Matthew Riccitello - Israel-Premier Tech to Decathlon CMA CGM

Decathlon CMA CGM announced another big signing to further strengthen their Grand Tour credentials when the young American Matthew Riccitello was confirmed to join the team for 2026 after a strong fifth-place finish at the recent Vuelta a España. Riccitello is a pure climber and he will benefit from the additional support he will receive at the bolstered Decathlon team in 2026. 

Read more: Meet Matthew Riccitello: America’s future Grand Tour champion?

Pauliena Rooijakkers - Fenix-Deceuninck to UAE Team ADQ

The third-place finisher at the Tour de France Femmes 2024 is a proven consistent performer. Despite this, the Dutch rider hasn't managed to notch up the number of wins that she and her team would expect from such a talented rider. In fact, she only has one win to her name: the Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria in 2022. Since then podium spots at the Tour, Itzulia, Tour de Suisse, as well as two fourth-place finishes at the Giro d'Italia, show she has the potential to challenge the world's best. A change of scene from a Fenix-Deceuninck squad she has been with for two seasons could help claim her second professional win. At UAE Team ADQ she will be in a winning environment with the likes of Elisa Longo Borghini and double Tour stage winner Maeva Squiban. 

Other key transfers 

The women's transfers have not been as active as the men's this season. Outside of Kool's and Rooijakkers's moves, so far the biggest announcement has been Loes Adegeest move from FDJ-Suez to Lidl-Trek. Alice Towers has moved from Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto to EF Education-Oatly.

Another interesting transfer is Cian Uijtdebroeks move from Visma-Lease a Bike to Movistar, ending his contract early at the Dutch squad. The aspiring GC rider has not quite managed to live up to his expectations and was a bit hampered by misfortune during his time at Visma. He will be hoping to reanimate his career at the Spanish team.

Tom Pidcock's Q36.5 Pro Cycling team have been busy and have already announced some exciting transfers with Eddie Dunbar, Chris Harper (both from Jayco Alula) Fred Wright (from Bahrain-Victorious) and Tom Gloag (Visma-Lease a Bike), signing for the team. Dylan Groenewegen is also leaving Jayco Dylan for Elmar Reinders for 2026.

Mattia Cattaneo is following Remco Evenepoel in switching from Soudal Quick-Step to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe for the 2026 season. As Olav Kooij and Tiesj Benoot move from Visma to Decathlon, the Frenchman, Bruno Armirail is transferring in the opposite direction. 

Other key movers are Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ to Israel-Premier Tech), Attila Valter (Visma to Bahrain-Victorious), Dorion Godon (Decathlon to Ineos), Gianni Vermeersch
(Alpecin-Deceuninck to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Max Walscheid (Team Jayco Alula to Lidl-Trek) and Edward Planckaert (Alpecin to Quick-Step).

This piece will be updated as more transfers are announced.