‘An enormous change’: Pogacar’s agent Carera explains why cycling stars are leaving teams early

Filippo Ganna's move from Netcompany Ineos to Lidl-Trek, Giulio Ciccone's switch to Pinarello-Q36.5 and Richard Carapaz's departure from EF Education-EasyPost to NSN have one thing in common: all three are leaving their teams before their contracts expire.

What once would have been an extraordinary development in professional cycling is now becoming almost routine.

According to Alex Carera, the influential agent who represents Tadej Pogačar and several other leading riders, the sport is witnessing a fundamental shift in the way its transfer market operates.

Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Carera revealed just how dramatically the situation has changed. Until a few years ago, early contract terminations were exceptionally rare. Now, he estimates, there are around ten such cases every year.

For Carera, who also represents Ciccone, the explanation begins with the increasingly long contracts being handed to the peloton's biggest names.

"First of all, the average length of contracts has increased. Significantly," he told the Italian newspaper.

"If a contract is only two years long and problems arise, you don't have to wait very long for it to expire. It's not really worth getting into a major dispute. You might spend a year being unhappy, but then you can move on.

"However, if you're talking about a five-year contract, the situation is obviously very different."

Carera identifies December 2023 as a turning point, when Cian Uijtdebroeks' controversial departure from Bora-hansgrohe to Visma | Lease a Bike exposed just how complicated an early transfer could become.

Visma announced the Belgian's arrival while Bora maintained that he remained under contract. The dispute eventually ended with an agreement between the parties, allowing Uijtdebroeks to make the move in January 2024.

What initially appeared to be an unusual contractual battle has since become part of a much broader trend.

Remco Evenepoel's highly publicised departure from Soudal Quick-Step provided one of the clearest examples. The Belgian was contracted until the end of 2026 but secured an early release to join Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe a year ahead of schedule. Soudal Quick-Step subsequently confirmed that it had received financial compensation as part of the agreement.

Juan Ayuso's exit from UAE Team Emirates-XRG was another significant case. Despite having a contract running until 2028, the Spaniard agreed to leave at the end of 2025 following differences over his future within the team. He subsequently signed a five-year deal with Lidl-Trek.

Then came Oscar Onley.

After finishing fourth at the 2025 Tour de France, the Scottish climber attracted interest from several of cycling's wealthiest teams. Picnic PostNL initially rejected offers for a rider contracted until the end of 2027, but eventually agreed to release him to Ineos Grenadiers for the 2026 season.

In announcing the move, Picnic PostNL acknowledged that the final offer had been too attractive for either the team or Onley to refuse.

The circumstances of each transfer were different, but together they demonstrate a clear shift. A signed contract no longer necessarily means a rider will remain with the same team until its expiration date.

Carera believes the frequency of these moves speaks for itself.

"Until then, early contract terminations happened roughly once every three years. Now we're seeing around ten per year."

Longer contracts alone do not explain why so many riders are now able to move.

Carera believes the more important development is the changing ownership structure of professional cycling teams.

In the past, many teams were controlled by managers, often former riders, operating within relatively limited budgets. Paying compensation to release a rider from an existing contract was rarely considered a realistic option.

That is no longer necessarily the case.

"The owners of cycling teams are increasingly the sponsors themselves. UAE, Decathlon, Lidl and Red Bull, for example," Carera explained.

"They have a more corporate approach and a longer-term vision."

These companies increasingly see their cycling teams as strategic investments, with ambitions that go well beyond traditional sponsorship and marketing.

That has changed the way they approach the transfer market.

"A cycling team is now a fundamental business asset for the company or investment fund behind it," Carera said.

"There's also a greater willingness to be more aggressive in the transfer market because these companies need to generate value from their annual investment in cycling."

The financial difference is considerable. Carera points out that in 2020, a team operating with an annual budget of €25 million could reasonably consider itself among the wealthiest in the sport.

Today, he claims, that same figure would place a team among the five smallest budgets in the peloton.

For the richest teams, paying compensation to secure a leading rider years before his contract expires has become a more realistic part of building a competitive squad.

It also creates a new situation for teams developing young talent. A promising rider can be tied to a long-term contract, yet still attract an offer that makes an early departure difficult to resist.

Onley's move from Picnic PostNL to Ineos is a particularly striking example of that dilemma.

One name appears unlikely to feature in any of these transfer battles: Tadej Pogačar.

The Slovenian is comfortably cycling's biggest star, but Carera sees little prospect of his client leaving UAE Team Emirates-XRG, regardless of the increasing financial power of rival teams.

Asked whether Pogačar remains the exception to the trend, Carera was unequivocal.

"Yes, because his value is simply too high. His release clause is almost symbolic."

For Carera, Pogačar's importance extends far beyond his results on the road.

"Tadej has transcended the boundaries of cycling."