Eddie Dunbar and Dan Pearson, two Aqua Blue Sport riders who have new teams for 2019. Some of their former team mates have walked away from pro cycling, others are out of contract or have put new deals in place.
More than four months after the sudden collapse of Aqua Blue Sport the team’s former riders have moved on and most have found new teams.
However, two of the 16 men who rode in the colours of the Irish ProContinental team last year have decided to move on from racing as pros.
Four-time Irish road race champion Matt Brammeier had made that decision before the team ceased abruptly.
Last June, some three months before the team’s demise, he stopped racing. Brammeier became lead academy coach for the Great Britain Cycling Team’s men’s endurance programme.
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Shortly after the Aqua Blue team stopped, Calvin Watson announced his intention to step away from riding as a pro.
At the time of writing neither Andy Fenn nor Mark Christian, both British riders, had announced any team plans for the coming season.
Stefan Denifl, who was Aqua Blue Sport’s most successful rider in its near two-year tenure, had secured a place at WorldTour level.
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The winner of a Vuelta stage in 2017 and the overall at the Tour of Austria, he signed for Team CCC. However he requested the contract be dissolved before it began, citing unspecified personal reasons.
The remaining 11 riders have secured new deals, the details of which are outlined in the summary below.
Of those, four are set to ride for WorldTour squads in 2019, two will ride at ProContinental level and five for Continental teams.
All of those riders have secured contracts in what was a very difficult transfer market during the off season.
A number of teams in all three tiers of pro cycling ceased operating or amalgamated with other squads, leaving many experienced riders on the market.
And a small number of those will have their salaries for this year paid by their former teams because they had contracts with those squads for 2019.
That put them at the front of the queue for places in teams for the coming season, making conditions even harder for most out of contract riders.
Of the former Aqua Blue Sport riders who have secured contracts, one has a deal for three years, one for two years and the others are all confirmed for one year.
Former Aqua Blue Sport riders | 2019 status
- Shane Archbold (29) – Irish team EvoPro Racing (Continental) one-year deal
- Adam Blythe (29) – Lotto-Soudal (WorldTour) one-year
- Matt Brammeier (33) – Retired as of June 5th, working for British Cycling
- Mark Christian (28) – No team yet announced
- Stefan Denifl (31) – Signed for Team CCC (WorldTour) but has dissolved contract
- Eddie Dunbar (22) – Team Sky (WorldTour) as of September 15th one-year
- Conor Dunne (26) – Israel Cycling Academy (ProContinental) one-year
- Andy Fenn (28) - No team yet announced
- Aaron Gate (28) – Irish team EvoPro Racing (Continental) one-year
- Lasse Norman Hansen (26) - Corendon-Circus (ProContinental) two-year
- Peter Koning (28) – Bike Aid (Continental) one-year
- Michel Kreder (31) - Ningxia Sports Lottery-Livall (Continental) and working as coach one-year
- Daniel Pearson (24) - Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes (Continental) one-year
- Casper Pedersen (22) – Team Sunweb (WorldTour) three-year
- Larry Warbasse (28) – AG2R-La Mondiale (WorldTour) one-year
- Calvin Watson (25) – Announced intention to move on from pro cycling
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