By now, every rider in the top 100 of the PCS Season Ranking has secured a contract for next season. An interesting detail: not a single rider from this year’s top 100 has retired. Nineteen riders from the top 100 sought and found a new team, a number consistent with trends from recent years.
What are the top transfers of this transfer window, you might ask. Well, we've got them lined up for you. At the top of the list are Marc Hirschi and Ben O'Connor, ranked 4th and 6th in the PCS Ranking, who made high-profile moves.
Where top riders from the top 50 of the PCS season ranking in 2021 signed a new contract (either an extension or a move) with an average duration of over 2 years, this year that has increased to over two and a half years.
To further explore this potential trend, we look at how the proportion of shorter contracts (1 or 2 years) has compared to longer contracts (3 years or more) in recent years.
- Deals of 1 or 2 years
- Deals of 3 years or more
This confirmed what we suspected. In 2021 and 2022, around 9% of the riders who signed a new contract were offered a contract of 3 years or longer. Last year, that figure rose to just over 13%, and this year, more than 16% of riders who signed a new deal secured a longer-term agreement.
In addition to current professionals signing new contracts, every year over 100 riders see their dreams come true by signing their first professional contract. This number has consistently stayed well above 100 over the years, with occasional spikes reaching well over 200. For the upcoming season, the count currently stands at 88. However, teams are still busy filling the last remaining spots in their rosters, and several young riders are eagerly awaiting the chance to join the professional peloton.
Below is a list of the youngest debutants in the professional peloton for 2025.
| # | Rider | Team | Age at January first. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | STENICO Mattia | VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè | 18y + 97d |
| 2 | SEIXAS Paul | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 18y + 99d |
| 3 | FERRARO Santiago | VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè | 18y + 103d |
| 4 | HERREÑO Martin Santiago | VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè | 18y + 110d |
| 5 | WITHEN PHILIPSEN Albert | Lidl - Trek | 18y + 120d |
| 6 | CETTOLIN Filippo | VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè | 18y + 192d |
| 7 | MONTAGNER Andrea | VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè | 18y + 321d |
| 8 | TORRES Pablo | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 19y + 52d |
| 9 | ERŽEN Žak | Bahrain - Victorious | 19y + 74d |
| 10 | SENTJENS Sente | Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team | 19y + 121d |
What stands out is the group of incredibly young talents that VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè is bringing into the professional ranks. The Italian team signed no less than six riders this winter, all of whom will still be 18 years old when the new year begins on January 1st.
This begs the question: which team offers the most opportunities for riders who have never been professionals to prove themselves in the pro ranks?
| # | Team | Total debuting pros on team | Avg. debuting pros per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uno-X Mobility | 38 | |
| 2 | Relax - Gam | 35 | |
| 3 | Team Flanders - Baloise | 101 | |
| 4 | Burgos - BH | 30 | |
| 5 | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | 47 | |
| 6 | Team Novo Nordisk | 56 | |
| 7 | Bingoal WB | 35 | |
| 8 | Drone Hopper - Androni Giocattoli | 82 |
In addition to debutants in the professional peloton, the peloton will also bid farewell to a number of riders. Among them are multiple stage winners in Grand Tours and victors of major classics. Some said goodbye with a bang, while others left more quietly. These are the biggest names we won’t be seeing next year. (For some riders, it is still not entirely certain.)
| # | Rider | From | New status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CAVENDISH Mark | Astana Qazaqstan Team | Retired |
| 2 | BOASSON HAGEN Edvald | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | Retired |
| 3 | URÁN Rigoberto | EF Education - EasyPost | Retired |
| 4 | VIVIANI Elia | INEOS Grenadiers | * uncertain |
| 5 | POZZOVIVO Domenico | VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè | Retired |
| 6 | GESINK Robert | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | Retired |
| 7 | HERMANS Ben | Cofidis | * uncertain |
| 8 | SIMON Julien | TotalEnergies | Retired |
To complete the story: there are also riders who, after a period of absence or competing at a lower level, are making their return to the professional peloton. So far, these are the riders:
At the end of the day, each team does its best to come out of the transfer window as strong as possible, aiming to reinforce its squad. Let's take stock by comparing the total PCS points accumulated by the riders in this year’s team to the total points of the riders who will be racing for the team next year. Which WorldTour team emerges on top, and theoretically, has secured the biggest quality boost?
| # | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | XDS Astana Team | ▲2890 |
| 2 | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | ▲2776 |
| 3 | Team Jayco AlUla | ▲1758 |
| 4 | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | ▲1228 |
| 5 | EF Education - EasyPost | ▲542 |
| 6 | Bahrain - Victorious | ▲291 |
| 7 | Lidl - Trek | ▲203 |
| 8 | Movistar Team | ▲138 |
| 9 | Soudal Quick-Step | ▼96 |
| 10 | Team Picnic PostNL | ▼201 |
| 11 | Intermarché - Wanty | ▼225 |
| 12 | Cofidis | ▼248 |
| 13 | Alpecin - Deceuninck | ▼420 |
| 14 | Groupama - FDJ | ▼895 |
| 15 | INEOS Grenadiers | ▼1240 |
| 16 | Arkéa - B&B Hotels | ▼1606 |
| 17 | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | ▼2198 |
| 18 | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | ▼2545 |
Two well-known names sit at the top of the list. Teams that both received significant capital injections this year. Both XDS Astana Team and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe are in dire need of this boost, though at opposite ends of the UCI team ranking. With reinforcements like Ulissi, Gate, Poels, Teunissen, and Higuita, Alexandre Vinokourov’s squad will aim to collect points across all fronts to avoid relegation. Currently, the team is struggling as the lowest-ranked WorldTour squad in the UCI’s three-year cycle ranking. To avoid the axe at the end of next season, the team will need to make up a 2,000-point deficit to Uno-X Mobility and Arkéa - B&B Hotels.
Further up in the ranking, Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe has its own ambitions. Ralph Denk’s team already climbed five places in the UCI team ranking last year, finishing in fifth place. Backed by the ever-ambitious Red Bull brand and bolstered by the arrivals of Fisher-Black, Lazkano, Van Gils, Pithie, Tratnik, and the Van Dijke twin brothers (altogether forming a full classics core that’s hard to beat), the team will make a push for the top spot in the team rankings, aiming to establish itself as the new driving force in cycling.
Oh, and to give some encouragement to the teams and riders embarking on new adventures together: of the top transfers in recent years, only a very select few riders have performed better in their first year with a new team than they did the year before...
| Year | Rider | Status | Points in last year for old team | Points in first year for new team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | ARENSMAN Thymen | worse | 1053 | 285 |
| 2023 | YATES Adam | better | 1132 | 1947 |
| 2023 | CARAPAZ Richard | worse | 1232 | 554 |
| 2023 | KRISTOFF Alexander | worse | 1410 | 756 |
| 2022 | NIZZOLO Giacomo | worse | 1068 | 527 |
Latest articles
- PCS 2024: More than a passion
- Women's Transfers 2025: Seismic shift in the peloton
- Transfers 2025: The cards have been reshuffled
- Rik Van Looy, "The Emperor of Herentals", dies at 90
- "The Patrick Lefevere-era."
- Tadej Pogačar's record-breaking 2024 in numbers.
- 2024: The stats you didn't know you needed. (1)
- Add new results!
- The Junior Game
- Dutch 'Plan Wiebes' to beat Kopecky for Olympic Gold