Transfer Bulletin — Laporte Re-Signs At Visma, Tiberi Extends At Bahrain, And The Super-Teams Circle Seixas
With the Grand Tour and Classics calendars now feeding directly into the build-up to the Tour de France, the rider market has quietly shifted into a higher gear. A wave of contract activity over the past week has firmed up the futures of several established names while the peloton's biggest teams continue to manoeuvre around the most coveted young talent of all. Here is where the 2026-2027 silly season stands as the racing turns towards Switzerland.
The most significant retention belongs to Visma-Lease a Bike, who have tied Christophe Laporte to a fresh deal following a strong Classics campaign. The Frenchman has been one of the most reliable lieutenants and opportunist winners in the sport, and keeping him removes any uncertainty over a rider who blends sprint speed with the engine to deliver in the cobbled and hilly one-day races. For a squad rebuilding its depth around Jonas Vingegaard, securing Laporte is a statement of intent.
At Bahrain Victorious, Antonio Tiberi has signed a longer-term extension on the back of a consistent start to 2026. The young Italian has steadily grown into a genuine Grand Tour general classification option, and the team's willingness to commit to him underlines their belief that his ceiling has not yet been reached. It is a cornerstone signing for a squad keen to build its next decade around home-grown stage-race ability.
Elsewhere, the movement has been brisk. Matteo Trentin has agreed terms to continue with Tudor Pro Cycling, lending the ambitious Swiss outfit a vastly experienced road captain, while Ivan Romeo has put pen to paper at Movistar, where the Spanish team is increasingly betting on a young core capable of carrying its colours into the next generation. Both moves point to teams prioritising continuity as budgets tighten across the WorldTour.
Looking further ahead to 2027, the rumour mill continues to churn. Kaden Groves is widely expected to leave Alpecin-Deceuninck for Tudor, a switch that would hand the Swiss team a proven Grand Tour stage winner and reshape the sprinting landscape. The Australian's likely departure speaks to the broader churn at the top of the market, where hundreds of riders are reportedly out of contract and even the women's peloton is now seeing its first headline million-dollar deals.
But the name on every sports director's lips is Paul Seixas. Fresh from his breakthrough overall victory at the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, the 19-year-old Frenchman is the single most sought-after prospect in the sport. Although he remains under contract with Decathlon CMA CGM through 2027, that has done nothing to deter nearly every super-team in the peloton from circling, sensing a generational talent who could anchor a Tour de France campaign for the next decade.
For Decathlon, the challenge is now as much about retention as recruitment. Seixas has handed the team its biggest result of the season and, in doing so, has made himself the centre of gravity for a transfer market that will only intensify as the summer unfolds. Whether the French squad can hold onto its prize asset against the financial muscle of the sport's wealthiest teams may prove the defining storyline of the 2027 window.
With the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France still to come, expect the pace of announcements to quicken further. Strong rides in Switzerland and on the roads of Spain in July will reset valuations overnight — and for riders chasing a contract, there is no better shop window than the races that matter most.