It’s a measure of the fragility and pace within the transfer market that in the space of just a few hours both Łukasz Wiśniowski and Julien Vermote appeared to be on their way out of Etixx-QuickStep before both re-signing with the Belgian team.
Vermote and Wiśniowski were out of contract as of Wednesday with Etixx manager Patrick Lefevere telling Cyclingnews at roughly 5pm that Sky had offered the riders deals for the future. “Go talk to Dave [ed. Brailsford]” was Lefevere’s response when asked where the pair were heading. However by midnight a source in Belgium had informed Cyclingnews that a deal between Vermote and Lefevere had been struck – backed up by a text message from Lefevere sent at 3am on Thursday morning. At a more reasonable 9am this morning, Lefevere also confirmed that Wiśniowski had signed a one-year deal. From out the door to shaking hands within the space of 12 hours – this is how the transfer market within cycling often works.
Cyclingnews has since learnt, however, that Wiśniowski has not signed with Etixx Quickstep - contrary to the team’s announcement. The rider’s agent has confirmed that the Polish ride is still deciding his future with Team Sky still in the running. A decision will be made next week.
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From a broader perspective, all of the key players have contracts for next year. Vincenzo Nibali will head the Bahrain Merida team, Peter Sagan will wear Bora colours and, as Cyclingnews broke earlier this summer, Michael Matthews has signed for Giant-Alpecin, while Alberto Contador agreed terms at Trek-Segafredo on the Tour de France’s second rest day.
Further down the food chain, teams are in the driving seat as time ticks down to the end of the season and prices drop as riders and their agents become more desperate. The folding of IAM and Tinkoff has only exacerbated the situation. With the majority of team leaders confirmed, team bosses can now pick and choose the riders they want to complement their stars.
Team Sky are unlikely to repeat their transfer campaign of 2015, when they signed two key marquee riders in Mikel Landa and Michal Kwiatkowski. Instead, Dave Brailsford will trim the fat from his squad, re-sign key riders as he has done with Geraint Thomas, and draft in a few new faces. As reported, Nicolas Roche is very likely to move to BMC and Andrew Fenn is looking at his option away from the team. After a lean year, Leopold König is set to depart – rumours are of a shift back to Bora – while Sergio Henao’s agent has told Cyclingnews that his rider will remain on the team and sign a new contract. Younger brother Sebastian has another year left on his existing deal.
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