{"id":260321,"date":"2025-11-13T11:08:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T11:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/260321\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T11:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T11:08:10","slug":"i-dont-think-my-situation-is-due-to-a-lack-of-results-or-performances-james-shaw-on-his-hunt-for-a-team-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/260321\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I don’t think my situation is due to a lack of results or performances’ \u2013 James Shaw on his hunt for a team for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

This piece originally appeared in Cycling Weekly 534, published last Thursday, subscribe here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Despite racing 80 days during the 2025 season \u2013 only 29 riders in the entire world raced more than him \u2013 and completing both the Giro d\u2019Italia<\/a> and Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a>, British rider James Shaw<\/a> is without a confirmed team for 2026 season.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For the past four years, climber domestique Shaw has raced for EF Education-EasyPost<\/a>, joining the American team after three years riding for Continental and ProTour teams after his release from Lotto Soudal in 2018.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

In his time with EF he has established himself as a reliable helper and someone capable of riding for his own results; he\u2019s finished on the GC podium of two smaller races, and was fifth in a Pyrenean mountain stage<\/a> of the 2023 Tour de France<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Shaw, 29, finds himself in the unwanted position of not knowing what the future holds for him. EF haven\u2019t told him that they definitely don\u2019t want him for the 2026 season, but nor have they offered him a contract.<\/p>\n

And time is running out, with most WorldTour teams now complete or having earmarked their final available slots for riders who might become available in the event of the likely merger between Lotto and Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAs of yet I\u2019ve not received an official answer from EF so I am waiting to see what happens,\u201d Shaw told Cycling Weekly. \u201cA lot of people assumed I was staying and my agent and I remain hopeful. But a lot of teams filled up so potentially it was a mistake on my behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

Shaw and his management team are now working to land him a spot on a team for the forthcoming season, in the event that EF do not have space for him. The Andorran-based rider believes he is more than capable of at least another couple of years in the WorldTour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think my situation is due to a lack of results or performances. I feel like my results show that I perform well in those top races,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also think that the sport is going in the direction of quantity or quality: you see guys racing less and less but at a higher level and the toll of racing is getting more and more. For me to have the performances I have had and still had the quantity of race days was impressive I think.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike the top guys, I don\u2019t have time to do an altitude camp or dieting, nor have the time to control the fatigue load. So I\u2019m really content with what I\u2019ve done and achieved this year. I\u2019ve stood on the podium in a few races and had a good crack from the breakaway in a few stages of the Vuelta.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"James\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Turning 30 next June, Shaw acknowledged that \u201cI\u2019m at an age now where I think if I go down to a ProTeam, I\u2019m not sure anyone is ever bringing me back up to the WorldTour in my 30s.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he refuted some reports that he would retire if a suitable offer didn\u2019t arrive. \u201cI never said that and I am not contemplating nor considering retirement,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n

Instead, though not his first option, he is open and enthusiastic about the possibility of riding for a lower-ranked team. \u201cI\u2019d prefer to stay at EF as I\u2019ve built a good relationship with the riders and the staff, but if I have to go somewhere else, maybe a change would be nice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe riding for a ProTeam, being a slightly bigger fish in a smaller pond, and being given a free role to ride for myself every race would be good for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at Tom Pidcock and he took a chance leaving Ineos [to join Q3.65] but it was probably the best thing that has ever happened to him. It might be nice to be in a team like that as it\u2019s not always a step down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have offers to go and race for lower-level ranked teams, and also reasonably nice offers to go and race in different parts of the world. But I still think that I can race and compete at the highest level and in Grand Tours and that I am deserving of that place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Explore More<\/p>\n


\nef education-easypost
\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This piece originally appeared in Cycling Weekly 534, published last Thursday, subscribe here. Despite racing 80 days during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-260321","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}