On the 26th of January, you’d expect there to be a clean sheet of riders who are continuing their career into 2026, and those who are not. However, not everything is either black or white, as a few riders remain in the grey zone. More specifically, 40 of them, as is publicly known. A few World Tour and ProTeam riders have not announced their retirement from the sport or the road, but also do not have a standing contract at the time being.

At World Tour level, this list has thinned down, but still includes 14 riders. This includes Oier Lazkano, who is provisionally suspended by the UCI due to biological passport abnormalities; a decision has not been made, and on paper, it is possible to sign him – and potentially, if he is cleared, have a strong rider under contract at some point in the future. Lazkano is the most prominent name on this list, without a doubt.Ruben Guerreiro is perhaps the most prominent of the riders who have not been involved in such a case. But the Portuguese rider suffers from lingering health issues, most notably a back hernia, which prevents him from training or racing at a high level. But the climber, former winner of the Giro d’Italia KOM jersey, has admitted that he is working on returning to his best health and afterwards make the push to return to the World Tour.

Sam Gaze is focusing once again on his Mountain Biking career almost exclusively, whilst Gerben Kuypers, formerly of Intermarché – Wanty, has now been signed with Pauwels Sauzen – Altez and is potentially returning to a full-time cyclocross schedule.

That does still leave 12 riders on the list, however, including a few very young riders. The absence in the social media bubble may be the reason why some of these riders have not announced their retirement, but at the same time, it is quite possible that most, if not all, have not decided to hang up the wheels, and could be part of the amateur circuit or gravel racing ahead of a return to professional road cycling. Andrea Pasqualon, Julien Vermote, Antonio Pedrero, Matthew Walls, Filip Maciejuk, Kevin Colleoni, Juri Hollmann, Antoine Huby, Welay Hagos Berh, Campbell Stewart, Anton Palzer, and Eddy le Huitouze are still in this situation.

At ProTeam level, there is a clear elephant in the room, which is Chris Froome. The four-time Tour de France winner has been rather absent from competition since his crash at the 2019 Criterium du Dauphiné, and the last half of his five-year contract with Israel – Premier Tech proved to be at a deficit for the now-defunct team. Froome suffered another serious crash last fall, which ended his season prematurely and led to several fractures, which have provisionally led to his retirement. It seems to be a certainty, but no announcement has been made.

23 other riders follow him in this current status, which includes the also provisionally suspended Giovanni Carboni, previously of Unibet Rose Rockets; Jaarne van de Paar and Logan Currie of Lotto, who underwent a merger with Intermarché – Wanty; former World Tour riders such as Abner Gonzalez, Floris de Tier and Jon Aberasturi; and four-time Swedish national champion Lucas Eriksson.

World Tour riders without contractOrderRiderFormer teamAge1 PASQUALON AndreaBahrain – Victorious382 GUERREIRO RubenMovistar Team313 VERMOTE JulienTeam Visma | Lease a Bike364 PEDRERO AntonioMovistar Team345 LAZKANO OierRed Bull – BORA – hansgrohe266 WALLS MatthewGroupama – FDJ277 MACIEJUK FilipRed Bull – BORA – hansgrohe268 COLLEONI KevinIntermarché – Wanty269 HOLLMANN JuriAlpecin – Deceuninck2610 HUBY AntoineSoudal Quick-Step2511 BERHE Welay HagosTeam Jayco AlUla2412 STEWART CampbellTeam Jayco AlUla2713 PALZER AntonRed Bull – BORA – hansgrohe3214 LE HUITOUZE EddyGroupama – FDJ2215 GAZE SamuelAlpecin – Deceuninck3016 KUYPERS GerbenIntermarché – Wanty25ProTeam riders without contractOrderRiderFormer teamAge1 FROOME ChrisIsrael – Premier Tech402 ABERASTURI JonEuskaltel – Euskadi363 TIZZA MarcoWagner Bazin WB334 DE TIER FlorisWagner Bazin WB345 VAN ROOY KennethWagner Bazin WB326 CARBONI GiovanniUnibet Tietema Rockets307 ERIKSSON LucasTudor Pro Cycling Team298 WEEMAES SashaWagner Bazin WB279 TSARENKO KyryloTeam Solution Tech – Vini Fantini2510 VAN DE PAAR JarneLotto2511 CURRIE LoganLotto2412 GONZÁLEZ AbnerCaja Rural – Seguros RGA2513 VAN POUCKE AaronTeam Flanders – Baloise2714 ANGULO AntonioBurgos Burpellet BH3315 MEENS JohanWagner Bazin WB2616 MARTÍN AlexTeam Polti VisitMalta2617 INKELAAR KevinUnibet Tietema Rockets2818 CLYNHENS ToonTeam Flanders – Baloise2419 BIAGINI FedericoVF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizanè2220 AZPARREN EnekoitzQ36.5 Pro Cycling Team2321 DELGADO DavidBurgos Burpellet BH2522 BAGUELIN JocelynWagner Bazin WB2623 PHIPPEN LoganTeam Novo Nordisk3324 PERCRULE DoriandTeam Novo Nordisk26