The WorldTour market isn't waiting for Kern Pharma: its stars are already packing their bags

The future of the Kern Pharma Team continues to be surrounded by uncertainty, and this situation is already having direct consequences on its roster. Due to the lack of a main sponsor for 2027, the team has given its riders the freedom to seek other teams, and several have already found places in other structures, many of them in the WorldTour, while the team continues to work against the clock to ensure its continuity.

WorldTour teams are distributing Kern Pharma cyclists while the future of the structure remains up in the air

The crisis began to become public last March when Kern Pharma announced that it would not continue as the main sponsor starting next season. Since then, the sports management, led by Juanjo Oroz, has intensified the search for a new investor without having, for the moment, been able to close a deal that ensures the viability of the project.

With that scenario on the table, the team opted in June to give its cyclists the freedom to negotiate with other teams, a decision that Oroz described as “the most honest stance” given the existing uncertainty.

EF Education, Movistar, and Bahrain lead the distribution

The first consequences of that decision are already visible. According to Diario de Navarra, several riders from the Kern Pharma Team will compete in the WorldTour starting in 2027.

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The most significant move affects Urko Berrade, winner of a stage in the 2024 Vuelta a España, who will head to EF Education-EasyPost. Along with him, the Colombian Iván Ramiro Sosa will also join, thus returning to the highest category of international cycling.

For its part, Movistar Team will incorporate two riders from the Navarre structure. The Navarrese Diego Uriarte, who had even renewed his contract with Kern Pharma until 2027, will finally change teams and become the first Navarrese rider in the telephone team since the retirement of Imanol Erviti and the departure of Óscar Rodríguez. Alongside him, Iván Cobo will also join.

Another confirmed signing will be the Basque Ibon Ruiz, winner this year of the Mercan’Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes, who will strengthen the ranks of Bahrain Victorious.

Meanwhile, although outside the WorldTour, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA will also take advantage of the situation to incorporate two cyclists from the Navarre team: Marc Brustenga and Unai Iribar.

The project is still seeking to survive

Despite the departure of several of its main riders, the Kern Pharma Team does not consider its future lost. The priority remains to find a sponsor that allows them to maintain the UCI ProTeam license in 2027, a category for which the structure already submitted the corresponding documentation to the UCI on July 23.

If they ultimately fail to gather the necessary budget, the team is considering a less ambitious alternative: to continue as a Continental formation, which would involve giving up the second professional division and reorganizing the entire sports structure. In that scenario, the current development team would disappear to concentrate resources on a single roster.

Juanjo Oroz, however, maintains confidence in the team's sports model, based on the training of young riders, recalling that cyclists like Roger Adrià, Pablo Castrillo, or Raúl García Pierna have emerged from their ranks.

The Vuelta, the last showcase before deciding the future

While it is defined what will happen in 2027, the Kern Pharma Team keeps its focus on the current season. The team is preparing with special attention for its participation in the upcoming Vuelta a España, considered by the sports management as the great showcase to attract new financial support.

Indeed, a good part of the riders who have already secured their future are part of the pre-selection for the Spanish round, an event that could become the last great opportunity for the team to demonstrate the sporting value of a project whose future remains pending on finding the necessary financial backing.