Published October 29, 2025 10:45AM
Sometimes one step back means two leaps forward. Just ask Tom Pidcock, whose gamble on Q36.5 Pro Cycling turned into gold this year.
Two more established superstars are making big bets on teams on the rise, and vice versa.
Alison Jackson and Wout Poels — both proven winners of the sport’s biggest races — are leaving the comfort of top-tier teams to join ambitious upstarts.
Jackson heads to French continental squad St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93, while Poels signs a one-year deal with Unibet Rose Rockets, the team that famously began as a YouTube channel.
At first glance, these moves are head-scratchers, the kind of “huh, what?” moves that make you double-take the press release.
But in the modern peloton, where motivation and finding the right team can matter more than money, these “step-downs” can sometimes pay off in big ways for both the rider and the team.
Sometimes they can backfire horribly. How are these moves going to play out?
Risk-taking can pay off (but not always)
Cadel Evans delivered victory in the 2011 Tour de France. (Photo: Tim De Waele/Getty Images)
Cycling has a long history of reinvention stories that seemed risky at the time but in hindsight look brilliant.
Pidcock’s move out of the WorldTour from Ineos Grenadiers to minor-league Q36.5 Pro Cycling last year not only invigorated his road career but also delivered a rare second-tier grand tour podium with third at the Vuelta a España.
Q36.5 is now looking at a Tour de France bid in 2026, making the Pidcock transfer one of the most successful in modern cycling history.
It’s not the first. Cadel Evans dropped down to then-fledgling BMC in 2010 and won Australia’s first Tour de France yellow jersey the next season.
Like the Jackson and Poels moves, teams sign established riders looking for instant credibility and upward mobility.
Julian Alaphilippe’s recent move to Tudor Pro Cycling helped the Swiss outfit earn its first Tour wildcard this summer.
Alexander Kristoff did the same for Uno-X, helping the Norwegian team earn its first Tour start in 2023.
Even Demi Vollering’s switch from SD Worx to FDJ-Suez last season raised eyebrows, but she’s since helped elevate that squad to world No. 2 in the latest team rankings.
Change can be good, but not always.
Peter Sagan moved to TotalEnergies in 2022, but he was riddled with illness and injury, and he only won two races in the waning years of his otherwise stellar career.
Fabio Aru, a former winner of the Vuelta, moved to Qhubeka NextHash in 2021, but retired later in the season, undone by injury, and the team folded at the end of the year (only to be reborn as Q36.5 two years later).
Sometimes these moves come after a rider cannot find a deal at the WorldTour level or lured away by big-money contracts to help kickstart a fledgling program.
Nairo Quintana was meant to add marquee heft to the WorldTour ambitions of French upstart Arkéa-Samsic in 2022, but he was soon riddled with controversy over a Tramadol case and was jettisoned from the French team.
Perhaps ironically, the team — now Arkéa B&B Hotels — is folding at the end of this season, but Quintana sat out a season and returned with Movistar and recently signed a one-year contract extension to race in 2026.
So what’s in it for Jackson and Poels?
Jackson on rebuilding mission
Who’s happy? Alison Jackson celebrates Roubaix in 2023. (Photo: TIM DE WAELE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The 35-year-old Canadian national champion and 2023 Paris-Roubaix winner will bring her winning pedigree and high-wattage personality to the upstart French team.
After joining EF, Jackson won hearts and minds with her engaging social media presence, and won races on the road, including Roubaix, three national road titles, and a stage at the Vuelta Femenina.
So with EF Education-Oatly poised to move into the Women’s WorldTour in 2026, why leave now?
“I am really looking forward to contributing to the building of a strong and respected team, competitive at the highest level of the peloton,” Jackson said. “My ambition is to continue excelling in the major races and, in particular, to aim once again for victory in prestigious classics like Paris-Roubaix.”
She also highlighted her interest in mentoring younger riders. Same goals, different team, plus a two-year contract also sweetened the deal.
Jackson joins compatriots Simone Boilard (Uno-X) and Clara Emond (also EF) to give the team a solid Canadian presence.
The French team is also expected to bounce to the second-tier Women’s ProTeam level in 2026, which would give the squad the same access to the grand tours, major stage races, and one-day races that Jackson wants to race.
Auber93’s women’s outfit enters its fifth pro season in 2026, but Jackson is its biggest signing yet.
CEO Stephan Gaudry called Jackson’s arrival “a significant milestone” in the team’s growth.
“It quickly became clear that there was a strong desire on both sides to work together,” he said. “She is an exceptional rider, with outstanding abilities and a voice that carries weight.”
It looks like a win-win. Jackson will have access to the biggest races, and the team gets a big name to help them get invites to the biggest races.
It’s that kind of dynamic that drives these deals in cycling’s ever-fluid, wide-open rider market.
Can Poels push YouTube project over the top?
Poels helped XDS-Astana pull off a miracle WorldTour turnaround in 2025. Can he do the same for the Tietema project? (Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Poels is undergoing a similar transition, and is trading XDS-Astana jersey for Unibet Rose Rockets, a ProTeam that only a few seasons ago was better known for its YouTube vlogs than for finish-line results.
Founded by former semi-pro Bas Tietema, the Rockets have outgrown the gimmicks of popping wheelies and handing out slices of pizza.
Poels brings the WorldTour pedigree that will give the team the credibility it needs to keep growing and be taken seriously by grand tour race organizers.
He’s won a monument with Liège-Bastogne-Liège, won stages in the Tour and Vuelta, and carries two decades of WorldTour experience.
“I’m not here to wind things down,” Poels said. “I still love racing, I love suffering in the mountains, and I still get that same fire when the road goes uphill.”
Like Auber93, Unibet Rose Rockets has big ambitions.
The arrival of the 38-year-old Dutch climber — a heavy hitter who’s raced for Sky/Ineos, Quick-Step and Bahrain Victorious during his two-decade career — comes along with the signing of Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen.
The team finished 26th overall in the world ranking this year and eighth among second-tier squads, numbers that confirm that the team wants to perform.
“Wout didn’t join us to take it easy. From the first talk, it was clear he wanted to go all-in, not just show up for one last lap. That mentality fits us perfectly,” said team owner Bas Tietema.
Alongside Groenewegen, Poels adds both star power and credibility as the Rockets aim for high-level invitations, and maybe even a Tour de France wildcard in 2026.
That seems like a big stretch right now, but the addition of Poels and Groenewegen — granted that both are a bit past their prime — will add needed heft to the team.
But the buzz of a growing team hungry for results and opportunity in every race and less obsession with winning everything gives veteran pros like Poels the new stimulus they need to stay in the game.
“The Rockets’ energy is exactly what I was looking for,” Poels said. “One more year to go all-in and enjoy this sport at the highest level.”
The ultimate payoff for both teams would be tickets to the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes, respectively.
Will the bets pay off? Check back at the end of next season.