On the 26th of January, you’d expect there to be a clean sheet of riders who are continuing their career into 2026, and those who are not. However, not everything is either black or white, as a few riders remain in the grey zone. More specifically, 40 of them, as is publicly known. A few World Tour and ProTeam riders have not announced their retirement from the sport or the road, but also do not have a standing contract at the time being.

At World Tour level, this list has thinned down, but still includes 14 riders. This includes Oier Lazkano, who is provisionally suspended by the UCI due to biological passport abnormalities; a decision has not been made, and on paper, it is possible to sign him – and potentially, if he is cleared, have a strong rider under contract at some point in the future. Lazkano is the most prominent name on this list, without a doubt.Ruben Guerreiro is perhaps the most prominent of the riders who have not been involved in such a case. But the Portuguese rider suffers from lingering health issues, most notably a back hernia, which prevents him from training or racing at a high level. But the climber, former winner of the Giro d’Italia KOM jersey, has admitted that he is working on returning to his best health and afterwards make the push to return to the World Tour.

Sam Gaze is focusing once again on his Mountain Biking career almost exclusively, whilst Gerben Kuypers, formerly of Intermarché – Wanty, has now been signed with Pauwels Sauzen – Altez and is potentially returning to a full-time cyclocross schedule.

That does still leave 12 riders on the list, however, including a few very young riders. The absence in the social media bubble may be the reason why some of these riders have not announced their retirement, but at the same time, it is quite possible that most, if not all, have not decided to hang up the wheels, and could be part of the amateur circuit or gravel racing ahead of a return to professional road cycling. Andrea Pasqualon, Julien Vermote, Antonio Pedrero, Matthew Walls, Filip Maciejuk, Kevin Colleoni, Juri Hollmann, Antoine Huby, Welay Hagos Berh, Campbell Stewart, Anton Palzer, and Eddy le Huitouze are still in this situation.

At ProTeam level, there is a clear elephant in the room, which is Chris Froome. The four-time Tour de France winner has been rather absent from competition since his crash at the 2019 Criterium du Dauphiné, and the last half of his five-year contract with Israel – Premier Tech proved to be at a deficit for the now-defunct team. Froome suffered another serious crash last fall, which ended his season prematurely and led to several fractures, which have provisionally led to his retirement. It seems to be a certainty, but no announcement has been made.

23 other riders follow him in this current status, which includes the also provisionally suspended Giovanni Carboni, previously of Unibet Rose Rockets; Jaarne van de Paar and Logan Currie of Lotto, who underwent a merger with Intermarché – Wanty; former World Tour riders such as Abner Gonzalez, Floris de Tier and Jon Aberasturi; and four-time Swedish national champion Lucas Eriksson.

World Tour riders without contract

Order Rider Former team Age 1  PASQUALON Andrea Bahrain – Victorious 38 2  GUERREIRO Ruben Movistar Team 31 3  VERMOTE Julien Team Visma | Lease a Bike 36 4  PEDRERO Antonio Movistar Team 34 5  LAZKANO Oier Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe 26 6  WALLS Matthew Groupama – FDJ 27 7  MACIEJUK Filip Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe 26 8  COLLEONI Kevin Intermarché – Wanty 26 9  HOLLMANN Juri Alpecin – Deceuninck 26 10  HUBY Antoine Soudal Quick-Step 25 11  BERHE Welay Hagos Team Jayco AlUla 24 12  STEWART Campbell Team Jayco AlUla 27 13  PALZER Anton Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe 32 14  LE HUITOUZE Eddy Groupama – FDJ 22 15  GAZE Samuel Alpecin – Deceuninck 30 16  KUYPERS Gerben Intermarché – Wanty 25

ProTeam riders without contract

Order Rider Former team Age 1  FROOME Chris Israel – Premier Tech 40 2  ABERASTURI Jon Euskaltel – Euskadi 36 3  TIZZA Marco Wagner Bazin WB 33 4  DE TIER Floris Wagner Bazin WB 34 5  VAN ROOY Kenneth Wagner Bazin WB 32 6  CARBONI Giovanni Unibet Tietema Rockets 30 7  ERIKSSON Lucas Tudor Pro Cycling Team 29 8  WEEMAES Sasha Wagner Bazin WB 27 9  TSARENKO Kyrylo Team Solution Tech – Vini Fantini 25 10  VAN DE PAAR Jarne Lotto 25 11  CURRIE Logan Lotto 24 12  GONZÁLEZ Abner Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 25 13  VAN POUCKE Aaron Team Flanders – Baloise 27 14  ANGULO Antonio Burgos Burpellet BH 33 15  MEENS Johan Wagner Bazin WB 26 16  MARTÍN Alex Team Polti VisitMalta 26 17  INKELAAR Kevin Unibet Tietema Rockets 28 18  CLYNHENS Toon Team Flanders – Baloise 24 19  BIAGINI Federico VF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizanè 22 20  AZPARREN Enekoitz Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team 23 21  DELGADO David Burgos Burpellet BH 25 22  BAGUELIN Jocelyn Wagner Bazin WB 26 23  PHIPPEN Logan Team Novo Nordisk 33 24  PERCRULE Doriand Team Novo Nordisk 26