News Round-up: The cycling transfer window officially opens for business

After months of speculation and somewhat premature reveals, the cycling transfer window is officially underway and with the onset of August has come a flurry of announcements. We bring you all the headline news as Uno-X makes a blockbuster statement of intent with the signing of Magnus Cort from EF Education-EasyPost, whilst the Arnaud Démare saga has finally come to an end. Elsewhere, we have the racing news from the Tour de Pologne and Tour de l’Ain. All that and more in today’s Edition…

| Uno-X bolster their ranks with Magnus Cort and Andreas Leknessund

UCI ProTeam Uno-X have made two franchise signings for 2024 and beyond, in the forms of Magnus Cort from EF Education-EasyPost and Andreas Leknessund from dsm-firmenich, with the Dane and Norwegian both signings contracts until the end of 2026. The Scandinavian outfit - registered in Norway - have dual ambitions to move up to the WorldTour and support the development of Scandinavian riders, ambitions which will only be strengthened with the addition of the two riders.

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Both Magnus Cort and Andreas Leknessund should score Uno-X valuable points in the UCI rankings, as the team bids to secure WorldTour status in 2026

The next round of promotion/relegation to/from the WorldTour will come ahead of the 2026 campaign, but in the meantime Uno-X are determined to finish third in the points rankings of the ProTeams, thereby securing them guaranteed wildcard invites to the WorldTour one-day races in 2024. The team have thus far been unable to secure invites to the Classics organised by the RCS, such as Milano-Sanremo, Giro di Lombardia and Strade Bianche.

Should they secure invites to the flagship one-day races, they will feel confident of securing top results from their two new acquisitions, both of whom have winning pedigrees. Cort and Leknessund have won the Lillehammer GP, Ringerike GP and Himmerland Rundt between them - which will please the Scandinavian fans - but both arguably have greater potential to shine for Uno-X at the Grand Tours.

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Uno-X have recently finished their first Tour de France, having secured a wildcard invite by race organisers, ASO

Cort has won a Grand Tour stage in each of his last four seasons, taking his tally of wins to six stages at La Vuelta a España, two stages at the Tour de France and a single victory at the Giro d’Italia. He is a versatile rider as comfortable in reduced bunch sprints as he is in breakaways, and given his reputation for flourishing in the final two weeks of Grand Tours when riders have built up fatigue, he is destined to pick up notable victories for his new team.

As for Leknessund - a rider who came through Uno-X’s Development Team before a move to the WorldTour in 2021 - he is a rider that won the Arctic Race of Norway in 2022 but made his breakthrough on the grandest stage at this year’s Giro d’Italia. The 24-year-old came second on stage 4 to move into the maglia rosa and, after spending five days in pink, he would eventually seal eighth place by Rome.

| Olav Kooij sprints to success on stage 4 of the Tour de Pologne

After missing out to Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) on the opening day of the race, Jumbo-Visma’s Olav Kooij gained revenge on the second opportunity for the sprinters and won stage 4 of the Tour de Pologne. It marks Kooij’s 22nd victory as a professional and first since announcing his contract extension with the WorldTour outfit at the end of June.

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Despite not yet starting a Grand Tour, Olav Kooij is making a name for himself as one of the sport’s quickest sprinters

Kooij roared to success ahead of Marijn van den Bergh (EF Education-EasyPost) and Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) on stage 4, whilst Max Walscheid (Cofidis), Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jakub Mareczko (Alpecin-Deceuninck) separated a frustrated Merlier from the day’s podium.

There were no changes in the general classification time gaps, but João Almeida leapfrogged his UAE Team Emirates teammate Rafał Majka into second on the basis of stage standings. Almeida sits second only 10 seconds down on race leader Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) heading into the final three stages.

| Elisa Longo Borghini forced to miss the World Championships

Following her abandon from the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift on the eve of the final weekend, Elisa Longo Borghini’s troubles have continued with the announcement of her withdrawal from the World Championships in Glasgow. Longo Borghini will instead undergo antibiotic treatment as her Lidl-Trek team seeks to put an end to a deep skin infection that has plagued her.

“Elisa is suffering from a deep skin infection in the upper left thigh area,” revealed Lidl-Trek’s head doctor Gaetano Daniele. “It’s a serious infectious process that cannot be underestimated in any way. These symptoms are causing pain and fever that are still keeping her at home in bed, therefore an intense antibiotic treatment has become necessary and will last for at least a week from today.”

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Elisa Longo Borghini: ‘Stopping at this point of the season was the last thing I wanted, but the priority must be my health’

The break in racing for Longo Borghini should hopefully mark the end of a rotten spell of luck that has beset the Italian since she won her national championship title in late June. After a promising start to the Giro d’Italia Donne that saw her win stage 4, the 31-year-old crashed out in spectacular fashion on stage 6 and this left her facing an uphill battle to arrive at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in top form. She achieved three top-10 placings at the race but left prematurely ahead of stage 7’s summit finish atop the Col du Tourmalet.

“I can hardly find the words to explain my current state of mind,” said a disheartened Longo Borghini. “Mentally, it’s a heavy blow, which unfortunately comes in an already troubled season. The fact that I had to come home from the Tour was a huge disappointment, because I felt I had a great finale in my legs. It was painful, I won’t deny that.”

| Alexander Cepeda moves into Tour de l’Ain lead after stage 2

Stage 2 of the Tour de l’Ain brought a first professional victory for EF Education-EasyPost’s Alexander Cepeda. With a 7.8km category 1 climb preceding the final 16km of descending to the finish in Lagnieu, it was Cepeda and Groupama-FDJ climber Michael Storer who finished 1-2 on the day.

The pair came to the line together and during the sprint for the stage victory, Storer unwittingly brought himself to the ground after his bike throw saw him collide with Cepeda and lose all balance.

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It was a rough ending to the day for Michael Storer, who not only missed out on the stage win but also crashed over the line

The Australian was able to shake off the crash over the line and finish on the same time as the Ecuadorian, with Cepeda and Storer now sitting in first and second on GC, respectively. Cepeda’s teammate Hugh Carthy sits in third just six seconds behind Storer, whilst Kenny Elissonde (Lidl-Trek) and Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) round out the top five heading into the final day of racing.

| Warren Barguil linked with a return to dsm-firmenich

Despite August 1 being upon us, not all transfers are yet complete and in that space, we find the fate of Warren Barguil, a once irresistible young prospect who has somewhat lost his way over recent years as an Arkéa Samsic rider. With his contract coming to an end later this year, French newspaper L'Équipe has linked the Breton with a return to dsm-firmenich for 2024.

Beginning his professional career with Arkéa, in the form of 2011’s Bretagne Schuller team, Barguil moved to Argos-Shimano in 2012 and rode for the team until 2018 through its various incarnations of Giant-Shimano, Giant-Alpecin and Team Sunweb. Now known as dsm-firmenich, the Dutch squad would offer Barguil the opportunity to join fellow Frenchman Romain Bardet and return to the environment in which he enjoyed the most successful moments of his career.

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Warren Barguil’s career highlight came during a remarkable 2017 Tour de France for the young Breton

Barguil won two stages at both the 2013 Vuelta a España and 2017 Tour de France, securing the iconic polka-dot jersey in the latter. However, since his win on the Col d’Izoard in 2017 and subsequent move to Arkéa Samsic, the Frenchman’s career has plateaued and the only notable victories since have been the French national championship in 2019, a stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in 2022 and a one-day victory at the GP Miguel Indurain in the same year.

Whilst yet unconfirmed, a return to dsm-firmenich would make sense for all parties and allow Arkéa Samsic to refocus their energies on their latest addition, Arnaud Démare.

| Arnaud Démare officially makes mid-season switch to Arkéa Samsic

As was reported in Monday’s Edition and has now been confirmed by both teams, Arnaud Démare has completed the mid-season transfer from Groupama-FDJ to Arkéa Samsic. After 93 victories and 12 and a half years as a professional for Marc Madiot’s squad, Démare’s time with Groupama-FDJ has come to something of a sour ending.

An early-season spat between himself and David Gaudu - unwittingly made public by Gaudu in an online chatroom at the start of the year - preceded Démare’s non-selection to the Tour de France, despite him being given the impression that he would ride his home Grand Tour by Madiot. With their efforts instead focused on Gaudu and Thibaut Pinot in the mountains, Groupama-FDJ did not take the two-time stage winner to the biggest race of the season, and Démare’s last race in their colours would turn out to be the Tour de Suisse.

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Arnaud Démare and Miles Scotson will reunite at Arkéa-B&B Hotels in 2024

Now 31 years of age, Démare has a long-standing pedigree as one of the top sprinters in the peloton, with a kick that has delivered him to eight stage victories and two points classification wins at the Giro d’Italia, alongside a prestigious win at Milano-Sanremo in 2016. With the additional financial commitment of new title sponsors B&B Hotels in 2024, Arkéa Samsic have also confirmed the signing of Démare’s lead-out man Miles Scotson (Groupama-FDJ).

Whilst Démare is officially an Arkéa Samsic rider as of today, Scotson will join the team known as Arkéa-B&B Hotels on 1 January 2024. Démare’s first three races will be the Tour of Leuven, BEMER Cyclassics and the Renewi Tour as Arkéa Samsic look to add to their UCI points in their first year as a WorldTour side.

| Pieter Serry extends his Soudal-Quick Step contract until 2025

Continuing their spree of contract extensions that have recently seen Josef Černý and Matteo Cattaneo commit their futures to the team, Soudal-Quick Step have put pen to paper on a contract extension for the experienced climber, Pieter Serry.

“I’m really happy that I will stay in the team for the next two years, until the end of 2025,” commented Sierry. “I am very proud to be part of this amazing squad. I have a lot of great memories from all these years, including Remco Evenepoel’s victory at La Vuelta, last season. I hope that in the next two years I can help him win another Grand Tour.”

Sierry has ridden 15 Grand Tours for the Belgian squad over the course of his 11-year spell with the team, and he will likely be part of their Vuelta a España squad that will take aim at defending Remco Evenepoel’s title. Without a win as a professional, Sierry’s value has instead been found as a reliable climbing domestique for his team’s brighter stars.

| UAE Team Emirates announce the acquisition of Jan Christen on a long-term contract

Multi-disciplined talent Jan Christen has earned the mid-season promotion to WorldTour giants UAE Team Emirates. The Swiss rider had already agreed on a contract with the team of Tadej Pogačar through to the end of 2027 but had been riding for Hagens Berman Axeon for the first half of this season.

“Jan is a rider we’ve been following and working with for some time now and we are very pleased to give him the opportunity to step up and show what he can do,” said UAE Team Emirates’ Principal & CEO Mauro Giantetti. “He is a very young rider who we hope can continue to grow and develop both as a cyclist and as a person in our team.”

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Jan Christen out-sprints Aaron Dockx (left) and Nathan Smith (right) at the 2022 cyclocross World Championships in Fayetteville

Christen won the junior world cyclocross championship at the start of 2022 and recently soloed to stage honours on one of the Giro Next Gen’s toughest days, highlighting his versatility across the board. Still only 19 years of age, Christen will seek to establish himself in the professional ranks over the second half of the season.

| Hannah Barnes to retire from professional cycling at the end of 2023

Uno-X rider Hannah Barnes announced the final steps of her career on Monday evening, with the British rider posting on social media that she would be ending her career at the end of 2023. Beginning her career with Team Ibis Cycles in 2012, Barnes rode for UnitedHealthCare in 2014 and 2015 before spending six years with Canyon-SRAM.

“I have found the final two years quite difficult, battling injuries and struggling mentally to accept that I am no longer part of the race but just making up the numbers,” admitted Barnes. “It’s in my nature to put everything into getting the best out of myself but unfortunately that hasn’t been possible lately.”

At 30 years of age, Barnes’ retirement may come as a surprise but, as she alluded to, she has failed to recapture her finest form since leaving Canyon-SRAM for Uno-X at the beginning of 2022. Crowned British national champion both on the road and in the time trial during her career, Barnes will be remembered for her stage 3 victory at the Giro d’Italia Donne in 2017.

Transfer roundup

August 1 has brought its usual swathe of transfer announcements and alongside the headline-grabbing moves of Cort, Leknessund and Démare, plenty of other riders are on the move over the coming months.

Lidl-Trek have revealed the addition of three new stagiaires for the remainder of the 2023 campaign: Nils Aebersold, Tim Torn Teutenberg and Martin Pedersen - the younger brother of Lidl-Trek’s Danish superstar, Mads. Jumbo Visma’s Development Team, meanwhile, have signed 20-year-old mountain biker Tom Schellekens to a two-year contract and will support the Dutchman’s progression both on his mountain bike and in road cycling.

Elsewhere, Arkéa Samsic youngster Andrii Ponomar has mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the team, in order to move to an Italian professional team - as yet unnamed - and move closer to his mother and sister. The Ukrainian has lived in Italy since the onset of conflict between Russia and his home nation, with his family refugees in the country whilst his father fights for Ukraine against the ongoing Russian invasion.

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Aged just 18, Andrii Ponomar was the youngest rider to finish the Giro d’Italia since 1929 when he made it through all 21 stages in 2021

As for riders who will join their new teams over the winter, Baptiste Vadic will make the jump from Vendée U to TotalEnergies and sign his first professional two-year contract. A notable puncheur, the 21-year-old Frenchman has won the Manche-Atlantique and stage 2 of the Ronde de l’Oise this season, ending his three-year mentorship with Vendée U in style.

From an octopus’ garden in the shade, it is time to bid adieu. Until the next time.