The off-season is over and the 2025 campaign is upon us. Who will punch above their weight? Who will struggle for results? And who will even be in the WorldTour in 2026?
Indeed, relegation is one of the themes of the season, as we enter the final phase of the three-year rolling ranking that will decide the attribution of men’s WorldTour licences from 2026-2028.
Elsewhere, we have the battle for superiority at the very top of the UCI World Ranking, with Visma-Lease a Bike out for revenge after UAE Team Emirates’ – and in particular Tadej Pogačar’s – incredible 2024 season.
We have teams like Lidl-Trek and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe looking to break into the super-team party, and we have the old dominators, Ineos Grenadiers, in a state of turmoil. In between, we have a large mid-pack scrapping for every victory and podium they can get their hands on.
Here, Cycling News takes a closer look at all 18 men’s WorldTour teams, picking out their key riders and their overarching ambitions for the season ahead.
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Alpecin-Deceuninck
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 8
- Key riders: Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen
- Rider to watch: Quentin Hermans
Alpecin-Deceuninck’s win tally of 26 in 2024 was their lowest since the COVID pandemic struck, but where they dropped off slightly in raw numbers they more than made up for in terms of quality: Milan-San Remo (Jasper Philipsen), the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix double (Mathieu van der Poel) and three Tour de France stages (Philipsen).
If there’s one question mark it’s why Van der Poel’s success was so limited to one three-week period in the Spring, but then you remember those exploits in the rainbow jersey and it’s enough to hang a career on, never mind a season. Those two were the two key pillars for the Roodhooft brothers’ team in 2024, and it looks sure to stay that way in 2025.
With little to write home about in the transfer market, the two big pieces of business have been to extend both Van der Poel’s and Philipsen’s contracts – amid competition for the latter. Classics and Sprints are the focus, then, with no great prospects in the stage racing department, but that can wait – the rise of this team to this point over the past half-decade has been nothing short of remarkable.
Arkéa-B&B Hotels
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 19
- Key riders: Arnaud Démare, Luca Mozzato
- Rider to watch: Kevin Vauquelin
The French team face a stressful season, with a relegation battle that starts from day one – not to mention the sponsorship search. They managed to gain a ticket to cycling’s top tier at the expense of some big squads in 2023 but two years into the three-year ranking that will determine the 18 WorldTour licences from 2026, they sit 19th. The team struggled for wins in 2024 but the rise of Kevin Vauquelin, who won a stage of the Tour de France, was a major boost.
Now’s the time to get the best out of the 23-year-old Frenchman before he moves on. Arnaud Démare had a rough first full season with the squad in 2024 but the French sprinter remains their biggest-name, highest-paid rider, who shoulders a good deal of the responsibility in 2025.
The team’s biggest points-scorer last season was in fact Luca Mozzato, who pulled off a stunning runner-up finish at the Tour of Flanders. If he can operate on that level more often, if Démare can get back to winning big races, and if Vauquelin can take another step forward, then they might just stand a chance of staying up.
Bahrain Victorious
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 17
- Key riders: Antonio Tiberi, Santiago Buitrago, Matteo Mohorič, Pello Bilbao
- One to watch: Lenny Martinez
Bahrain Victorious head into 2025 on the back of a fairly lifeless season. They registered 13 wins but languished in 17th in the UCI team rankings, having garnered 50% fewer points than they did in 2023, and far less than when they were flying in 2021.
The brightest spark was Antonio Tiberi, the Italian who Bahrain picked up when no one wanted him after his killing of a cat. In return for the controversy, they got a rider who has suddenly sprouted into a stage racing force, placing fifth at the Giro d’Italia, as well as winning the Tour of Luxembourg. He looks like someone they can build behind in 2025.
The same goes for Santiago Buitrago, who continues to develop as a GC rider, with a top-10 now to his name in the Tour de France. Meanwhile, Matej Mohorič and Pello Bilbao didn’t have vintage seasons in 2024 but are two focal points who are sensational on their day.
Joining them at the top table is new signing Lenny Martinez from Groupama-FDJ. Most of the new faces are promotions from the team’s affiliated development squad, but the pocket rocket is an electric climber who can certainly win big races in 2025. There’s more than enough to lift them out of last year’s slump.
Cofidis
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 20
- Key riders: Dylan Teuns, Ion Izaguirre
- One to watch: Emanuel Buchmann
Cofidis are another of the teams fighting relegation in 2025. They did OK in 2023 but were only the 20th-best team in the world in 2024, which leaves them hovering dangerously in 18th place in the three-year ranking, just above the red line.
Losing their top 2024 points scorer, Axel Zingle, who’s off to Visma, will not help matters. Neither will losing their traditional stage race leader, Guillaume Martin, who has chipped in with Grand Tour top 10s in their colours. However, their list of signings does give cause for optimism. Dylan Teuns arrives from Bahrain Victorious (a team where likewise he was snapped up to score points) to add some top-level quality to the roster.
Emanuel Buchmann fell out of favour at Bora but has finished fourth at the Tour de France, while Simon Carr is an intriguing talent who can win big from breakaways. Bryan Coquard will lead the sprints having claimed his first WorldTour win last year, while Ion Izaguirre still looks fresh at 35 after placing fourth at Il Lombardia.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 6
- Key riders: Felix Gall, Benoit Cosnefroy, Sam Bennett
- One to watch: Paul Seixas
Can Decathlon keep it up, or will they suffer the difficult second album syndrome? The French team have been around for decades, but after several seasons of mid-table mediocrity, they were reborn in 2024 as sports retailing giant Decathlon came on board as sponsor.
There were no major new signings and so the moderately priced Van Rysel bikes were credited with a remarkable upturn in results; Decathlon ended the year sixth in the UCI team rankings, increasing their 2023 UCI points haul by 50%. And now for the problem. A quarter of their points were scored by Ben O’Connor, who is moving to Jayco-AlUla. Have they lined up a replacement? No. Paul Seixas and Johannes Staune-Mittet are exciting prospects for the future but for 2025 Decathlon lack a top-level stage race rider, and a leader in general.
Felix Gall will be called upon to take the reins and does have the climbing quality on his day, while Benôit Cosnefroy showed flashes of his old potential in the hilly Classics last year. Decathlon could really do with once-dominant sprinter Sam Bennett getting his career back on track, while the rest will be left to Frenchmen Aurelien Paret-Peintre and Paul Lapeira.
EF Education-EasyPost
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 12
- Key riders: Richard Carapaz, Neilson Powless
- One to watch: Darren Rafferty
EF Education-EasyPost have lost a talisman heading into 2025, with Rigoberto Urán, the man who effectively saved the team after his 2017 Tour de France podium, heading into retirement. That said, the Colombian wasn’t contributing much in the way of results in the past few years.
The bigger loss is that of Alberto Bettiol, the high-class Italian puncheur, but in comes Kasper Asgreen, a former winner of the Tour of Flanders. The Dane has laboured in the past couple of years, with no shortage of injury complications, but soared in the Classics in his pomp, and is still only 29. Can EF unlock that old magic? On a one-year punt, it’s exactly the sort of deal that manager Jonathan Vaughters has built his team on in recent years.
One break from that tradition was to sign proven Grand Tour podium contender Richard Carapaz a couple of years ago, and while that didn’t bear fruit initially, the Ecuadorian won a stage of the Tour last year and placed fourth at the Vuelta. Hopes will be high they can kick on and cash in in 2025.
Beyond Carapaz, Neilson Powless is the team’s outstanding rider, most suited to hilly Classics and breakaways, but there’s plenty of quality from the likes of Ben Healy and Hugh Carthy. And if it doesn’t go well on the road, they always have Lachlan Morton flying the flag and maximising exposure in gravel and whatever crazy adventure’s next up his sleeve.
Groupama-FDJ
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 10
- Key riders: Stefan Kung, David Gaudu
- One to watch: Romain Gregoire
The long-running French team have lost two of their most exciting riders as they head into the 2025 season, with Classics revelation Laurence Pithie moving to Red Bull and young French pocket climber Lenny Martinez off to Bahrain – that one, in particular, will sting for the French team.
Still, they’ll take heart from the fact that neither Martinez nor Pithie were in their top four UCI points scorers in 2024. Top of that list was Stefan Küng, a star time triallist who has also been knocking on the door of a big Classics victory. Valentin Madouas is another strong Classics rider, as is Romain Gregoire, a young talent particularly suited to the Ardennes.
The other of those big four points-scorers was David Gaudu, whose struggles looked to be deepening throughout the 2024 season until he popped up with sixth at the Vuelta. Time trialling remains a major Achilles heel for the team’s stage race leader but that was at least something to build on. The new signings aren’t overly inspiring though Guillaume Martin’s move from French rivals Cofidis does catch the eye – the Frenchman is often ridiculed for his yo-yoing racing style but does attack and does occasionally scratch the top 10s in big races.
Ineos Grenadiers
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 7
- Key riders: Carlos Rodriguez, Geraint Thomas, Josh Tarling
- One to watch: Artem Schmidt
Ineos Grenadiers head into the 2025 season with enormous question marks hanging over them, after a season in which not only fell short of expectations but saw the wheels start to fall off the whole operation. The British team, once the dominant force in pro cycling, could only manage seventh in the team rankings, their tally of 14 victories the lowest in their history.
The paucity of big wins came with a rolling snowball of negative headlines, from the MIA Steve Cummings to the controversy surrounding the de-selection of Tom Pidcock at Il Lombardia and the British star’s subsequent decision to terminate his contract and move teams. Ineos got rid of Rod Ellingworth ahead of 2024 and looked to put a new management structure in place, but with Dave Brailsford busy at Manchester United alongside team owner Jim Ratcliffe, the team look as listless as ever.
With Ineos losing Pidcock as well as their second-highest point scorer, Jhonatan Narvaez and stalwart Luke Rowe, it’s hard to see them upping the ante with the riders they have brought in. Carlos Rodríguez is the team’s stage race leader, while 38-year-old Geraint Thomas remains evergreen, but neither is a big favourite for a Grand Tour title.
If Egan Bernal, though, can continue to inch back towards his best, that could be a really exciting prospect. Filippo Ganna and Josh Tarling are two of the very best time triallists in the world, with the latter a potential Classics contender alongside Magnus Sheffield, while Axel Laurance has been added for punchy sprints. But it’s hard to see Ineos making good on their intentions to challenge UAE and Visma in 2025.
Intermarché-Wanty
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 15
- Key riders: Biniam Girmay
- One to watch: Hugo Page
The Belgian squad still have work to do to maintain their WorldTour status, but they’ve established themselves as worthy members of the sport’s top tier, which didn’t look so evident when the team bought into the WorldTour three years ago.
They have a huge star in their ranks in Biniam Girmay, and the team as a whole looks to be being managed with greater care, culture and innovation than seemed to be the case only a few years ago. Still, they need every ounce of that, given their roster is among the weakest in the WorldTour, and they haven’t done much strengthening ahead of 2025.
Gerben Thijssen can mix with the world’s best sprinters, while there are options for the smaller races, but the star of the show is far and away the Eritrean trailblazer Girmay. Previous feats such as his Gent-Wevelgem victory and Giro d’Italia stage felt like massive moments, and so did his first Tour de France stage win last year in fairness. But the way he kicked on to two more stages plus the green jersey last summer suggests a man really settling into his stride now.
Jayco-AlUla
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 14
- Key riders: Ben O’Connor, Caleb Ewan, Dylan Groenewegen
- One to watch: Anders Foldager
There’s something of a changing of the guard as the Australian team wave goodbye to their long-time leader Simon Yates, who looks to have agreed to a super-domestique role at Visma. There’s a lot of history between rider and team and it will have been an emotional goodbye.
In steps another Grand Tour leader in Ben O’Connor, a home Aussie rider who has had some great years at AG2R. After placing fourth at the 2021 Tour de France, he led the Vuelta last year for a long time before placing runner-up. He might have steadily shipped the lead he built up in a breakaway, but the rest of O’Connor’s 2024 results sheet confirms he’s one of the top stage racers in the world, and Jayco should see some good returns.
The rest of the signings are nowhere near as high profile, so it’s over to the existing big names to deliver, not least the sprinting duo of Caleb Ewan and Dylan Groenewegen. The duo struck eight times between them last year, and realistically that needs to significantly increase if the team are to lift themselves up the rankings – relegation isn’t exactly looming but we’ve seen before how one poor season can see a big team sucked in.
Lidl-Trek
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 4
- Key riders: Mads Pedersen, Jonathan Milan, Mattias Skjelmose, Tao Geoghegan Hart
- One to watch: Thibau Nys
It’s been 18 months since supermarket giant Lidl came on board to take the Italo-US team to new heights, and they’ve certainly made progress, with more expected in 2025. Lennard Kamna is a strong signing for the here and now, and Albert Philipsen is one for the future, but the team have been quieter in the transfer market this time around, with a large chunk of their 2025 squad intact.
That means the burly Jonathan Milan winning some of the biggest sprints with one of the strongest lead-out trains. It means Mattias Skjelmose continuing to get better and better stage race results. It means Mads Pedersen taking the fight to the top two Classics riders and winning plenty of races besides. And it means Thibau Nys, one of the brightest talents, taking another step forward after his storming debut in 2024.
When you add in Giulio Ciccone and Tao Geoghegan Hart, both of whom had disrupted seasons but can be right up there in Grand Tours, you have an exciting team fighting on all fronts. Lidl brightened up the jersey and they’ve done the same to the entire spirit of the squad, who will be out to cement themselves among the world’s super-teams.
Movistar
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 13
- Key riders: Enric Mas
- One to watch: Pablo Castrillo
Having flirted with relegation in the previous cycle, Movistar have more room for comfort this time out, but in their post-Valverde world, they have slumped into a rather uninspiring state of affairs.
Enric Mas remains the team’s figurehead and contributed with another Vuelta podium, and several more major top 10s besides, but beyond the Spaniard things are very thin on the ground for a team of Movistar’s stature and history. The next man who earned them a decent helping of points, Alex Aranburu, is off to Cofidis next year. But there is, in fairness, an exciting new face through the door.
Pablo Castrillo was one of the revelations of last year’s Vuelta, winning two stages in the colours of Kern Pharma, and Movistar saw off some feisty competition for his signature. In a team that’s ever-keen to house the biggest Spanish names, he slots straight into a leading role.
Meanwhile, Einero Rubio continues to impress, even finishing seventh at the Giro d’Italia which suggests he could grow in three-week solidity. Movistar should avoid relegation again but beyond Mas and a couple of others, there’s little to really get excited about.
Picnic-PostNL
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 16
- Key riders: Romain Bardet, Fabio Jakobsen
- Ones to watch: Max Poole, Oscar Onley
A new name for Iwan Spekenbrink’s Dutch team, who are one of the teams who’ll have the threat of relegation lurking over their shoulder in 2025. They’ve not had a great couple of years, but it feels like there’s more potential in this squad. They have leader Romain Bardet for only half a season longer, so the rest of the riders will need to step up.
The most obvious department is sprinting, where Fabio Jakobsen was the high-profile signing 12 months ago but endured a torrid debut season with the team. He was almost superseded in the pecking order by Tobias Lund Andersen, and it’ll be interesting to see how much more progress the Dane can make in 2025, and how management juggles things.
They have a habit of sharing things around but will that cause confusion and friction? Elsewhere, the most exciting riders are the British duo of Max Poole and Oscar Onley. Both were held back by injury in 2024 but have the potential to do big things in stage racing in 2025.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 5
- Key riders: Primož Roglič, Jai Hindley, Dani Martínez
- Ones to watch: Laurence Pithie, Oier Lazkano, Giulio Pellizzari
The growth of the German team continues. After a solid first season under Red Bull branding in 2024, bigger and better things are being eyed up in 2025. Primož Roglič arrived last year and won them a Grand Tour at the Vuelta, but they’ll want more, across the board.
In comes the revelation of the 2024 Classics, Laurence Pithie, alongside the revelation of the 2023 Classics, Oier Lazkano, not to mention Omloop winner Jan Tratnik – a Slovenian ally of Roglic’s. Red Bull were first to the signature of the exciting Italian climber Giulio Pellizzari, while Finn Fisher-Black could be a shrewd signing from rivals UAE.
They’re losing Lennard Kämna – capable of big things – and Sergio Higuita among others but it looks like a decent refresh, especially for the cobbled Classics. Elsewhere, Roglic leads the Grand Tour line but Jai Hindley, Dani Martínez, and Aleksandr Vlasov are all capable leaders in their own right, while Sam Welsford can win the biggest sprints on his day. 2025 might not be the year when Red Bull really challenges UAE and Visma, but it could represent one step closer.
Soudal-QuickStep
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 3
- Key riders: Remco Evenepoel, Tim Merlier
- One to watch: Ethan Hayter
It’s a new era for the long-running Belgian team, who have been shepherded by Patrick Lefevere since 2003 but must now find their way without the inimitable Belgian boss. Lefevere was something of a throwback, a divisive figure who did things on his terms and always pointed to his track record of results when anybody kicked up a fuss. Without showering him with praise or criticism here, it’s fair to call Lefevere a towering figure in the sport and it’s hard to see how the culture of this team doesn’t shift or dilute in his absence.
The replacement, Julien Foré, is more of a businessman than a cycling man, so we’re likely to see more of a split between the new CEO running the company and another figure stepping up into more of a leading sports management role – rather than Lefevere doing both.
On the road, Remco Evenepoel is still hanging around and he represents the beating heart. The 24-year-old was already a Grand Tour winner and now has a Tour de France podium on debut to his name, not to mention his incredible Olympic double. The team have said goodbye to two-time world champ Julian Alaphilippe, as well as former Tour of Flanders winner Kasper Asgreen. While the former had dried up in terms of results, the latter represents a fresh blow to the team’s Classics credentials.
Once the kings of the Spring, QuickStep have become increasingly Evenepoel-centric and have been reduced to bit-part players in the major one-dayers. Max Schachmann returns to the team, and Ethan Hayter arrives – both will help in that department but have question marks surrounding their ability to deliver on their potential.
The team does still have one of the world’s top sprinters in Tim Merlier, so while Luke Lamperti and Paul Magnier are coming through, it looks like it’s on Merlier and Evenepoel to lead the line. The days of insanely high Lefevere win counts already seem to be fading…
UAE Team Emirates
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 1
- Key riders: Tadej Pogačar, Adam Yates, Juan Ayuso, João Almeida
- One to watch: Isaac del Toro
If Tadej Pogačar was a team, he’d have finished 11th in the UCI rankings in 2024. There are many ways to try and put the Slovenian’s season into perspective but with 25 victories, including the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, and World Championships road race, it was one of the greatest campaigns of all time. This is a rider who suffered for two Tours in a row but is now looking like he could beat anyone on one leg.
2025, then, will be about seeing whether he can continue to stretch his palmarès to even more extraordinary proportions. The worrying thing for the other teams is that UAE aren’t a one-man team anymore. There are so many top-level riders it would take too long to mention them all, but Adam Yates just gets better and better, João Almeida remains solid, Brandon McNulty seems like he still has more to give, and Juan Ayuso faces a big year as he looks to assert his status in the pecking order.
Meanwhile, the team’s investment in youth is paying off, with huge excitement surrounding Isaac del Toro after his eye-catching neo-pro campaign. It’s something of a carousel already, with the team welcoming 18-year-old Pablo Torres on a contract that runs through 2030 – a sign that this team intends to continue to dominate this sport for many years to come.
Visma-Lease A Bike
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 2
- Key riders: Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert, Matteo Jorgenson
- One to watch: Thomas Gloag
From all three Grand Tours in 2023 to zero Grand Tours, 2024 was the year in which Visma-Lease a Bike came back to earth, albeit with a gentle landing rather than a thud. Jonas Vingegaard was roundly beaten at the Tour de France by Tadej Pogačar. The Dane won every other stage race he finished but his season was marred by serious injuries sustained in the Spring at Itzulia Basque Country.
The team’s other star man, Wout van Aert, suffered a Spring crash of his own that took him out of Flanders and Roubaix – yet more heartbreak for the Belgian. Those injuries left the team looking a little thin, and they may well have regretted the decision to allow Primož Roglič to leave last year. Either way, Vingegaard and Van Aert remain the two figureheads of this team, and if both can stay injury-free then they can deliver the team back to dizzier heights. Simon Yates has been snapped up as a luxury domestique, so Visma will still have an incredible Grand Tour first eight, and with Van Aert flanked by Matteo Jorgensen, Christophe Laporte, and Dylan van Baarle, they have the strongest Classics collective in the world.
Jorgensen especially was a revelation last year, and not just in the Classics, so it will be fascinating to see what heights he can reach this year, and which direction he takes his career. Meanwhile, Cian Uijdtebroeks was snapped up amid much controversy this time last year but had a debut season to forget amid claims of persistent injuries – if he can come good on his promise he’ll feel like a top-level new signing himself. Visma may have lost their perch as the world’s top team, but they still have the quality and depth to get it back.
XDS Astana
- UCI World Ranking 2024: 21
- Key riders: Alberto Bettiol, Sergio Higuita, Diego Ulissi
- One to watch: Clément Champouissin
Last on the list, and certainly not least, the Astana team are arguably the most interesting prospect at the changing of the seasons. There’s a new title sponsor, with those three letters representing a significant investment from China. Rumours of a proper Chinese plunge into the WorldTour have circled for years and this looks to be the first major step.
Likewise, question marks have swirled over Chinese carbon but XDS’ bikes will mark a debut in the WorldTour for Chinese bike manufacturing. It remains to be seen quite how ambitious the new sponsors are, but this certainly represents an expansion beyond the team’s Kazakhstani essence. And boy how they needed it; Astana have almost sleepwalked into a relegation battle. They currently lie 20th in the three-year ranking and need a big shift in momentum for XDS to still say they sponsor a WorldTour team in 2026. The ‘ins’ list on their transfer sheet certainly looks like that of a team in panic mode, and with a bit more cash to spend than in previous years.
Alberto Bettiol is a high-calibre rider and immediately becomes their linchpin in 2025, especially with the departure of Alexey Lutsenko, which itself marks a major turning point in his status as the home star of the Kazakhstani project. Wout Poels and Diego Ulissi are in their late 30s but the former is still a classy operator and the latter still a points magnet in smaller races, while Colombian climber Sergio Higuita is capable of being up there in the biggest races on his day. There’s no Mark Cavendish, but this feels like a team that languidly wasn’t looking far beyond his Tour de France record pursuit and has now suddenly woken up.
