The Onley mega-deal to join Ineos Grenadiers delivers the biggest contract buyout in cycling history amid a surge of unprecedented spending and deal-making among cycling’s richest teams.
The Onley transfer saw the biggest contract buyout in cycling history. (Photo: Chris Auld/Getty Images/Velo)
Updated January 8, 2026 07:29AM
The blockbuster Oscar Onley deal pushed cycling into a new financial stratosphere, with sources confirming to Velo that the British talent’s buyout is the most expensive in the sport’s history.
According to sources, Ineos Grenadiers paid a record-setting price to break the 23-year-old’s contract with Picnic PostNL that eclipses every previous buyout in professional cycling.
Exact figures remain confidential, but sources say the buyout fee dwarfs the recent mega-deal for Remco Evenepoel to leave Soudal Quick-Step for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
The Evenepoel transfer is estimated at roughly $2 million in buyout fees on top of an annual salary pegged around $6 million to $7 million per season for the superstar Belgian, with performance bonuses stacked on top of the multi-year contract that makes him one of cycling’s best-paid riders.
Official numbers were not revealed, but sources tell Velo that Ineos Grenadiers paid more than double the Evenepoel buyout figure last month to extract the budding grand tour rider from Picnic-PostNL.
Onley’s new salary is lower, estimated in the low seven figures per season, but the decisive factor was the hefty release price Ineos Grenadiers agreed to pay to pry him loose of his existing multi-year contract at Picnic-PostNL.
The multi-million-dollar deal is an unprecedented sum for a rider still early in their prime, and it reveals how Ineos Grenadiers is charging back into the conversation after a few stagnant seasons for the once-mighty British squad.
Overall, the Evenepoel move remains the biggest transfer deal in cycling history when salary and buyout are combined.
The Onley transfer, however, resets the rider market as the richest buyout pricetag the peloton has ever seen.
Mega-buyouts are reshaping the peloton
Ayuso and Gee are the latest signings by Lidl-Trek, another big player on the market. (Photo: Chris Auld/Velo)
The Onley-Ineos package is the latest in a growing tsunami of unprecedented contract buyouts sweeping the elite men’s WorldTour.
It’s not just Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Ineos Grenadiers dropping cash for top talent.
Lidl-Trek is also dumping shopping carts full of money into the transfer market as it pushes toward super team status following the takeover by German supermarket giant Lidl.
On Tuesday, the team confirmed the arrival of Derek Gee after a contentious split with his former team Israel-Premier Tech (now NSN Cycling).
Lidl-Trek also paid eight figures to sign away Juan Ayuso from his long-term deal with UAE Emirates-XRG. Despite reports that Ayuso commanded a massive buyout clause, sources tell Velo that a compromise price was hammered out because all parties agreed it was time to move on.
Other teams, like Decathlon CMA CGM, are pushing the budget accelerator going into 2026
All of these unprecedented big-money, contract-breaking transfers represent largely uncharted territory in elite men’s cycling.
Agents and riders are pushing salaries to record highs. Generational great Tadej Pogačar is leading the way with a history-busting pay packet worth nearly $15 million per season.
Buyouts of big stars have existed before, but this latest spending spree also shows how a few deep-pocketed teams are willing to pay any price to secure and lock down top-tier WorldTour winners.
After pouring tens of millions of dollars into these high-stakes bets, the financial and sporting pressure will be enormous for the respective teams and riders.
And it’s up to all the other teams to try to keep up.