Riders are being 'held hostage' - CPA slams handling of Lotto-Intermarché merger

CPA president Adam Hansen has accused Lotto and Intermarché-Wanty of “holding riders hostage” as they wait to learn if they will have a place with the new, merged team in 2026.

The head of the riders’ union made the comment in an interview with Sporza in which he outlined the precarious situation of contracted riders at Lotto and Intermarché-Wanty.

It is widely expected that Intermarché-Wanty and Lotto will fuse in 2026, but neither team has made a formal announcement regarding the imminent merger. It is believed that the team will operate under the WorldTour licence currently held by Lotto, as Intermarché were not listed among the applicants for top-flight status in 2026.

By Hansen’s tally, a total of 43 riders from Lotto and Intermarché hold contracts with their respective teams for 2026, which means 13 of them will not have a place at the newly-merged squad.

“As a WorldTour team, you can have a maximum of 30 riders under contract, but together the two teams have 43. That’s a dream situation from the perspective of the new team, because they can simply choose who they want to continue with and who they don’t,” Hansen told Sporza.

“But from the riders’ perspective, it’s unfair, because they’re held hostage by this situation. As long as they have a running contract, they can’t leave the team. So they have to keep waiting for news.”

Last month, Hansen had already outlined that his organisation had been attempting to clarify the situation on behalf of riders who had been left in the dark, adding that the news should have been delivered to the riders by their teams rather than by the CPA.

“That’s why I organised a meeting some time ago with the UCI and the managers of both teams. We demanded a list of the riders who would have to leave,” Hansen told Sporza. “Even riders who were 100% certain of a contract came to me out of uncertainty. Their communication is that poor.”

Hansen has spoken with riders who have been left without a team due to the merger. “That was tough. Riders trust their agents, but the team wasn’t just dishonest with the riders, but also with the agents,” he said.

Although Biniam Girmay has suggested that he is unlikely to ride for the merged team – his rumoured destination is the rebranded Israel-Premier Tech – it is has not yet been confirmed that the Eritrean will leave.

“A lot depends on Biniam Girmay. If he decides to stay with the merged team, one rider will still lose his job,” said Hansen, who told Sporza of a rider who had found a contract elsewhere but his move has been blocked even though his place on the final 30-man roster of the merged team is not certain.

“That indicates that Lotto and Intermarché weren’t very honest with the UCI and us when they showed that list of dropped riders,” Hansen said. “That’s what I mean by riders being held hostage. The teams can decide whether or not to keep a rider on their contract, but the rider can’t decide whether or not they want to stay.”

The problem, Hansen concluded, is that the UCI regulations on the matter is overridden by Belgian labour law in this particular case.

“That law even allows teams to wait until, say, December 31 to let the riders know. That’s the sad truth,” he said. “We want a better protocol for such mergers in the future, where riders receive clarity much sooner.”