There are only two. One is of Rui Costa who is retiring from pro cycling, not something that is fully unexpected for the 39-year old who has achieved a lot throughout his career and was now in the closing chapter of his long stint in the sport. Owain Doull has also signed for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, where he will be a domestique for the flat races and classics mainly.
The team sees James Shaw departing the team, the Briton has confirmed that the team won’t renew with him, which means it is possible that this is the case with other riders who only haven’t shared that information publicly. “Now for the awkward answer to the question I’ve been avoiding when you lot direct message me. For 2026 I do not know where I will be or what I will be doing,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “Yet again I find myself aboard the ship of riders in search of a contract in 2026”. Signings
EF only began announcing most of its transfers recently, in the start of November. This could be an option, as the team frequently announces its Grand Tour lineups after all others, but most likely it is not. There is the possibility that like Team Jayco AlUla, the team has found some financial constraints which have delayed the possibility of striking big deals. But the back-to-back-to-back announcements of Luke Lamperti, Michael Leonard and Matthias Schwarbacher recently confirm that deals had been met previously.
The three signings are promising, and the trio joins also development team sprinter Noah Hobbs – Tour de l’Avenir stage winner – and Mattia Agostinacchio. The latter is the reigning junior cyclocross World Champion and now also reigning under-23 European cyclocross champion, beating other strong figures despite being 18 years of age. Quality signings, but potential future leaders, not current ones. The team has thus far, besides perhaps Lamperti, not signed any rider who can be competitive for victories at the highest level in regular circumstances.
Luke Lamperti is one of EF’s signings for 2025. @Sirotti
Who stays? Who doesn’t? That is currently the big question with EF. It has 11 riders it has not renewed with, at least of what we know publicly. James Shaw is not staying with the team, so 10 riders may still stay. And this list includes none other than Richard Carapaz, one of the team’s big leaders this year and a rider the team has put a lot of effort into signing and maintaining happy. This year at the Giro d’Italia, Carapaz was back to his best level and finished on the final podium, also winning a stage and being backed by a quality EF lineup. That will have had positive effect on a potential renewal.
But by mid-November there is nothing officialized, which comes as a major concern. With big sharks such as his former team INEOS Grenadiers still hunting for big men in the market, EF may struggle to keep him if in fact there is no deal yet for the Ecuadorian. If EF loses Carapaz, it may be difficult to replace him this deep into winter too.
But the list of riders is big, and includes meaningful figures. Take Archie Ryan, Lukas Nerurkar and Darren Rafferty for example, all riders 23 years old or younger, and all have a lot of potential to evolve within the team. They are not signed yet. Take the veterans Hugh Carthy and Esteban Chaves, both of which have not performed anywhere near their peak over the past few years and are almost certain to leave the team as they reach the end of their contract.
Furthermore the team does not yet have a deal with Jefferson Alexander Cepeda who has been a key support rider for Carapaz – which may hint a possible departure too, Jack Rootkin-Gray, Jardi van der Lee and Japanese rider Yuhi Todome. There is still time to save this transfer season for the American team but there is no avoiding the pressure.