EF Education-EasyPost’s confirmed departures for 2027Rider2027 destinationRichard CarapazNSN CyclingKasper AsgreenNSN CyclingMarkel BelokiNetcompany INEOSGeorg SteinhauserRed Bull – BORA – hansgroheMadis MihkelsAlpecin-Premier TechJames ShawNetcompany INEOSCarapaz leaves after delivering another major summer
Carapaz’s departure follows two Tour de France stage victories, the mountains classification and fourth overall at the Vuelta a Espana. He also finished second at the Tour de Suisse, having missed the Giro d’Italia after surgery to remove a perineal cyst disrupted his spring.
His Tour illustrated the range of opportunities he offered. Carapaz pursued stages and the polka-dot jersey, winning twice in the Alps, before returning to a general classification challenge at the Vuelta. EF could build around him without every Grand Tour depending on the same objective.
The turnover extends through the squads that supported those campaigns. Carapaz, Asgreen and Steinhauser accounted for three of EF’s eight Tour riders this year. At the Vuelta, Carapaz, Beloki, Shaw and Steinhauser made up half the team. Any incoming climbing leader would therefore arrive with several members of the existing Grand Tour group already gone.
Asgreen and Mihkels widen the losses beyond the mountains. Asgreen brings NSN a Tour of Flanders winner with Tour and Giro stage victories, while Mihkels gives Alpecin another option for sprints and the Classics. Shaw’s move removes an experienced climbing domestique. Replacing Carapaz alone would still leave work to do across EF’s racing programme.
Carapaz has waved goodbye to EF Education-EasyPost after four years in pink
Beloki and Steinhauser leave before EF can build around them
Beloki stepped into the WorldTour with EF in 2024, won the Tour Alsace and made his Grand Tour debut in 2025, then added a stage and the overall title at the Tour de l’Ain this season. INEOS are acquiring a stage racer after three years of development at the American team, with climbing and time-trialling ability that could earn him greater responsibility.
Steinhauser’s progression offers an even stronger immediate case. A Giro stage winner in 2024, he returned from a 2025 disrupted by Lyme disease to finish on the Paris-Nice podium and complete his first Tour de France in 2026. His move to Red Bull follows the recovery of the form that made him one of EF’s most promising climbers.
Neither was certain to become a Grand Tour leader, but both were already delivering in stage races. Their departures deny EF the chance to give greater freedom to riders familiar with the team, its staff and its Grand Tour demands. As Carapaz leaves, two of the strongest internal candidates for increased climbing responsibility are also moving on.
Sherry is an investment, with further recruitment still unconfirmed
Sherry’s path from Stanford running to professional cycling fits EF’s willingness to look beyond conventional recruitment routes. Injuries interrupted his running career, he began racing bikes locally towards the end of 2025, and second overall at the Oberösterreich Rundfahrt in 2026 helped earn him a place in the organisation.
The American joined EF Education-Aevolo during the summer, with a WorldTour promotion planned for 2027. His rapid progress gives EF something to work with, although his limited racing experience makes him a longer-term investment rather than someone to burden immediately with replacing established performers.
Juan Felipe Rodriguez has already taken that step. His promotion was brought forward to August and he rode the Vuelta, giving the Colombian an early introduction to Grand Tour racing. Although he appears on some incoming transfer lists for 2027, he is already part of the WorldTour squad.
There are reports of further additions. Daniel Benson has linked Tao Geoghegan Hart with EF, while La Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Ciro Scognamiglio has reported an expected move for Nicolas Milesi, the INEOS development rider who won silver in the under-23 world time trial championship. Neither move has been officially confirmed in the available reporting.
Geoghegan Hart would bring Grand Tour-winning experience, but his difficulties recovering his previous level since the serious injuries sustained at the 2023 Giro make him a different proposition from Carapaz. Milesi would add another talented rider entering the professional ranks. Both would offer potential gains, with the former needing to rediscover his best form and the latter still to establish himself in the WorldTour.
Financial ambitions meet the cost of retaining talent
EF’s search for additional backing began well before these departures. In January, the organisation announced that it wanted another title sponsor to help fund ambitions to win the men’s and women’s Tours de France with riders developed through its system. EF was to retain ownership and maintain its existing financial investment.
Vaughters subsequently described a budget less than half that of UAE Team Emirates-XRG. February’s sponsorship pitch was presented as a means of becoming more competitive, with existing funding described as assured for the coming seasons.
By October, WielerFlits was reporting that a constrained EF budget and Carapaz’s desire to capitalise on his successful season had helped create the opportunity for an early departure. No verified 2027 budget figure has accompanied that reporting, and the circumstances behind his exit cannot automatically be applied to every departing rider.
Nevertheless, the autumn business sits awkwardly alongside January’s ambitions. EF wanted greater financial power to develop Tour contenders; they now face replacing their leading Grand Tour rider while Beloki and Steinhauser continue their development with rivals. Securing another sponsor could improve their room to manoeuvre, but the confirmed departures have already changed the squad that any additional investment would support.
Healy and Powless remain, but the balance is changing
Healy and Powless are secured through 2029, while Quinn’s three-year renewal was announced on 15 October. Powless preserves a proven Classics option after Asgreen’s exit, and Healy gives EF a leader with major stage wins and one-day podiums. Quinn’s top-20 Tour finish and mountain support this summer also offer grounds for greater responsibility.
Other riders have already contributed victories. Noah Hobbs won Heistse Pijl and a Tour de l’Ain stage in 2026, Luke Lamperti took the opening stage of Paris-Nice, and Alex Baudin won at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. EF still have several routes to results beyond their best-known leaders.
Those strengths could sustain an effective programme built around Classics and stage hunting. Recreating Carapaz’s combination of mountain stage wins and Grand Tour GC contention would require more from the remaining climbers, or a substantial addition to the squad.
EF’s remaining recruitment will reveal how far they intend to pursue that replacement. Bringing in experienced climbing support would protect the ambitions of riders already there; signing a proven leader would preserve another route through the Grand Tours. Relying predominantly on promotions and riders rebuilding their careers would leave a larger share of the 2027 programme dependent on breakthroughs.