World champions, Tour winners, and other great cyclists still without a team for 2026

As is often the case at the end of each year, the last months leading up to the start of the next season become a true drama for cyclists who have not yet managed to secure a contract for the upcoming campaign, leaving their continuity in cycling hanging by a thread. Disappearances of teams like Arkéa, or mergers like those of Lotto and Intermarché further limit the available spots among the elite.

94 World Tour cyclists without a contract for the next season

Within the usual context of this situation that occurs year after year, this end of 2025 stands out for the number of relevant names that still do not have their future secured as teams begin to call their cyclists to the first preseason training camps in preparation for the imminent campaign.

Several of these names are veterans of the peloton, such as former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, who, after 10 seasons with the Sky and now INEOS structure, finds himself without a team despite his quality as a cyclist and an age of 35 years, which under current standards would still make him perfectly valid at the highest level as a team player.

RECOMENDADO

Mads Pedersen wants to rescue Danish MTB and is offering to raise the necessary funds

New Rockrider Race 940 S 2026: more setups, same frame, and ready for any World Cup

Several teams are looking to attract Premier Tech after leaving Israel

What is the winter bicycle and why is it disappearing

The Israel team loses its main sponsor but asks the cyclists not to leave

Crispy Rice with Marshmallows Bars, the recipe that triumphs in the peloton

Even more notable is that Richard Carapaz is without a contract after finishing his time with EF Education-EasyPost. The Ecuadorian has had a disastrous second half of the season due to an infection that left him without the Tour or Vuelta. He returned in the Italian classics at the end of the season with his sights set on the World Championship but far from the level that took him to the Giro d'Italia podium back in May.

Another high-level cyclist who has not yet found a place is Biniam Girmay, in his case affected by the merger between Lotto and Intermarché and Lotto's apparent refusal to maintain the conditions that the Eritrean had signed with Intermarché. In his case, he should not lack offers, and it is likely that his situation will clarify in the coming weeks.

The opposite is true for Chris Froome, who has been completely absent in recent seasons with Israel-PremierTech and seems that, despite his already declared intentions to continue as an active professional cyclist, it does not seem viable for any top-level team to count on the British cyclist.

A long list that reaches 94 names in the World Tour category, including some like Jefferson Cepeda, Esteban Chaves, Hugh Carthy, Brandon Rivera, or Ben Swift.