Cycling’s official transfer window opened on Monday August 1, opening the floodgates for a wave of rider switches for 2023.
UCI rules dictate that new signings can only be announced from August 1 but in reality many of the big-name rider deals have already been done secretly in the last few months.
As these are confirmed, and as negotiations continue for the rest of the riders on the market – which includes more than 150 WorldTour riders – Cyclingnews will be keeping track of all movements with this dedicated Transfer Hub.
We’ll update this page throughout the summer, autumn, and winter with every confirmed signing for 2023, building a team-by-team list of ins and outs, while also tracking the latest transfer gossip from the pro peloton.
The 2022-2023 market
With the racing scene at all levels getting back to normal amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the transfer market has settled back into a more familiar pattern. This year, however, there’s the complication of WorldTour licences for 2023, which are still up for grabs.
The top-ranked 18 teams in the three-year cycle from 2020-2022 will qualify for cycling’s top-tier from 2023-2025, with second-division squads Alpecin-Deceuninck and Arkéa-Samsic set to step up, meaning two current WorldTour teams will be relegated.
Loss of WorldTour status, even if there’s the cushion of automatic wildcard invites to the biggest races, could be hugely damaging for a team’s future, and could affect their ability to attract and even keep hold of riders. Lotto Soudal and Israel-Premier Tech are currently in the drop zone, while EF Education-EasyPost, BikeExchange-Jayco, and Movistar are also in danger.
The biggest names on this year’s market are Mark Cavendish and Richard Carapaz. The former has been confirmed to leave QuickStep-AlphaVinyl and has enlisted a new agent to find him a new two-year deal that will allow him to try and break the Tour de France stage win record and then finish his illustrious career. Meanwhile, Carapaz, who has three Grand Tour podiums from three years at Ineos Grenadiers, has been heavily linked with a move to EF.
Both Cavendish and Carapaz are the only superstar riders from their respective teams who are up for grabs in 2023. All other top-level sprinters and realistic Grand Tour contenders, such as Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, Primož Roglič, Egan Bernal, and Fabio Jakobsen are all under contract with their current teams.
Adam Yates is one big name who is on the market, with Ineos…
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