Are Cycling’s Mega Contracts Worth It?

The over-the-top 2025-26 transfer season delivered some of the richest contracts and deal-busting moves the peloton has ever seen as cycling edges into a more soccer-like era of endless money.

Call it cycling’s galácticos moment.

From Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe to Lidl-Trek to a reloaded Decathlon and a resurgent Ineos Grenadiers, the super teams opened the checkbooks to secure the stars of today and the blue-chip prospects of tomorrow.

Teams know it’s either spend on big money contracts or risk being left behind.

Now it’s crunch time for the big-money stars to deliver the elusive ROI: return on investment.

The real jackpots come in the monuments and grand tours later this season. February and March are more like quarterly earnings reports. They offer the first real glimpse into whether a deal is trending toward payoff or an embarrassing write-down.

So far, several marquee contracts are already delivering payback.

Remco Evenepoel erased any talk of a “transfer jinx” by blasting out of the blocks in 2026 after one of the most lucrative moves in cycling history.

The Remco rocket ignited on liftoff, stacking seven wins in 10 days of racing, four solo strikes, two time trials, and one overall title. If there was pressure attached to the contract, Evenepoel answered any critics by attacking (though he did lose the UAE lead on Wednesday).

Biniam Girmay’s move to NSN Cycling is also generating immediate returns, with two early sprint victories for the rebuilt squad keen to put the controversy of last year behind it and prove it belongs in the WorldTour.

Rising American star Matthew Riccitello, a centerpiece of Decathlon’s big-spend makeover, has already banked a win and a GC to validate the investment.

Now it’s the turn for everyone else — from Juan Ayuso to Oscar Onley and Jasper Stuyven and Derek Gee — to stand and deliver in their respective season debuts.

Ayuso, Gee at Lidl-Trek all-in

The next wave of cycling’s biggest transfers hit the road this week.

With seven-figure contracts and high-level drama, the pressure and stakes on cycling’s mega deals are hotter than ever.

OK, it’s not quite NFL or Champion’s League, but pressure comes as cycling’s gálacticos push money and expectations to a new level.

First up under the microscope this week is Lidl-Trek’s big-money bets on Juan Ayuso and Derek Gee.

Evenepoel grabbed the early headlines, but Ayuso’s messy departure from UAE and switch to Lidl-Trek packs perhaps even more pressure.

Ayuso went from standing in front of the UAE team bus in a tense standoff last year at the Vuelta a España when news broke of his departure to opening his Lidl-Trek presentation with words of contrition. Ayuso did the math and decided why risk friction with the world No. 1 Pogačar and the UAE machine?

Perhaps the most mysterious exit of 2026, the mild-mannered Gee had had enough of Israel-Premier Tech and he wanted out at any cost.

Things got messy when Sylvan Adams slapped a $30 million lawsuit against Gee, but that was settled, and he’s signed on as the other key arrival at Lidl-Trek and the team’s push for super team relevance.

What to expect:

The Canadian hasn’t raced since last year’s Giro and winning the Canadian road title in June. So far at the UAE Tour, it’s normal he’s not going to be flying. He was 14th in the short TT behind the unstoppable Evenepoel, losing just under three seconds a kilometer.

A solid ride Wednesday punched him inside the top 10 overall, a result that would be solid confirmation. The Giro is the real goal.

Things are different for the brash Ayuso.

He will want to come out swinging this week at his debut at Algarve, especially against the “bigs” like home road favorite João Almeida. This is already being hyped up as the “A&A” battle for bragging rights. Anything less than the final podium would be a temporary slight.

Ayuso believes he’s A-list material, so he will have the pressure to deliver in every race he starts.

Ineos doubles down on its makeover

The transfer season’s other big headliners debut this week at the Volta ao Algarve, with Oscar Onley and Kévin Vauquelin in their freshly minted Ineos Grenadiers jerseys.

Onley arrived on one of the costliest buyouts in modern cycling and Vauquelin is tipped by many as a potential dark horse for 2026.

The two aggressive contracts reveal that the once-mighty Ineos Grenadiers is no longer content with top 10s in the super team era.

Despite the pressure that comes with the power moves, there’s no immediate stress about coming out swinging.

“I don’t feel any pressure to perform straight away,” Onley said in a team release overnight. Vauquelin echoed the same sentiment: “I’m mainly eager to get back into it, push hard on the pedals, and get off to a good start with the team and my teammates.”

What to expect:

Balancing pressure and expectations after headline-grabbing contracts is always a high-wire act for teams.

The decision to give the team leader bib to Thymen Arensman reveals just that.

The Dutchman earns the honors after winning two stages at last year’s Tour and he’ll be leading in part to keep pressure off the team’s two marquee signings. Filippo Ganna will be chasing a TT win as well.

Like Vauquelin said, he’s not pinned on a number in nearly 200 days. Onley is unlikely to be at full throttle yet.

The real targets sit further down the calendar, but both come off some early season training camps keen to race.

Pride is also on the line for Ineos in what’s a reset for the entire organization. The UK powerhouse has come out of the gates swinging with some solid racing and has put some early wins and podiums on the board.

Ineos is already racing with new intensity this season and it will show all week. The new leaders won’t be hiding.

Wolfpack on the rebuild

Soudal-Quick Step is a team going back to the future.

With Evenepoel gone, the team is pivoting back to its cobbled roots with a pair of key contracts.

Fresh arrivals of classics stalwarts Dylan van Baarle and Jasper Stuyven this week at Algarve signal a deliberate shift toward smash-mouth racing and a revival of the Wolfpack identity.

Evenepoel’s exit generated a “Remco dividend” from the final-year buyout and salary savings, and management reinvested that capital in Van Baarle and Stuyven, two seasoned former monument winners tasked with restoring the team’s bark across cobbles, crosswinds, and breakaways.

Will it work?

“I think we were both ready for a breath of fresh air. We are going to find each other at the right time as teammates,” Van Baarle said of the new classics double trouble.

“It wasn’t that I was tired of Lidl-Trek. But when negotiations with Soudal-Quick Step started, I felt it was time for a new team,” Stuyven said.

What to expect

Algarve does not suit either man, but it’s a great race to rev up the engines. Two sprints, a time trial, and a pair of summit finishes offer limited terrain for cobble specialists.

The immediate goal is to guide sprinter ace Paul Magnier toward his first win of 2026 and sharpen the engines ahead of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad later this month.

That is when their season truly begins.