The pro cycling transfer market officially opens today, August 1st, with Sam Bennett tipped to be the first big Irish mover.
Other Irish cyclists are coming to the end of their current contracts this year; Irish pro cycling agent the man who will put in place some, though not all, of the new deals for the riders.
Dan Martin, for example, is handled by Dutch agents and Eddie Dunbar's agent is Gary McQuaid.
While some of the Irish cyclists will be expected to extend with their current teams, or move to new pastures, there has been huge interest in Bennett.
He has continued to grow in stature every year since
joining the paid ranks in 2014; winning more frequently and capturing bigger
victories every year.
This season has gone absolutely perfectly for him so far;
the Irishman brushing aside team selection issues to look like the fastest man
in the world many times this season.
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He got his campaign underway with a win a final stage win
at Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina before following that up with the final stage
of UAE Tour.
Two stages in Paris-Nice followed along with a stint in the green jersey. And though a group of strong men pulled clear to contest Milan-Sanremo victory, Bennett’s 28th place in that race just 27 seconds down shows it’s a race he could win.
The Carrick-on-Suir man followed that up by winning the opening two stages at the Tour of Turkey, where he held the leader’s jersey for four days and won the points classification.
Since then Sam Bennett has won a stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné (2.UWT) and the Irish road race title, Derry City last month.
Reports emerged during the first week of the Tour de
France that Bennett was being lined up to replace Elia Viviani at Deceuninck-QuickStep.
Team boss Patrick Lefevere all but confirmed Bennett is
about to arrive. He said he believed he had the Irishman lined up for next
year.
“It goes without saying that we had to look for an
alternative to Viviani. We think we found that with Bennett,” Lefevere
told Het Nieuwsblad.
Speaking to the Belgian newspaper Lefevere also said he had an oral agreement with Bennett. However, he expected a signature would confirm the deal this month when the transfer window opens.
Aside from Bennett, Eddie Dunbar is another rider who
will be very closely watched by Irish fans and who has generated plenty of
interest in the past year.
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The 22-year-old is just starting out his career but he
has looked very exciting while riding with Team Ineos.
It now has three Tour de France winners on its books;
Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal.
It seems Froome and Thomas will see out their careers
there; Froome signed to the end of next year and Thomas to the end of 2021.
Bernal is also likely to be with the team for many years
and is already signed up to the end of 2023.
Giro winner Richard Carapaz, who was so impressive for Movistar in Italy in May, is also expected to sign for Team Ineos.
Carapaz's move will bring a fourth Grand Tour winner into the team. However, Dunbar would still be very likely to get a ride in either the Giro or Vuelta.
And he would also get plenty of other chances to go for
his own results if he remains with the team, as he has to date this season.
Others on the market include Dan Martin, whose two-year
contract with UAE Team Emirates expires at the end of this season.
It is unclear if he will extend or move on. However, he
has repeatedly pointed the finger at issues within the team for his poor Tour
de France ride.
And with Fabio Aru now coming back, and looking quite
solid at the Tour despite recent surgery and a lack of race action, whether
Martin will stay remains to be seen.
Nicolas Roche is currently riding for Team Sunweb and he
has looked much stronger this year than last season.
It seems certain the team would want to keep Roche,
though whether he will extend or move on is not clear.
If Tom Dumoulin leaves the team for Jumbo-Visma, Team
Sunweb must undergo a serious re-organisation for 2020.
Likewise, Ryan Mullen is coming to the end of a two-year
deal with Trek-Segafredo. It is also a team set for a shake-up with the
anticipate arrival of Vincenzo Nibali.
If Mullen hasn’t already agreed terms for next season, a
big result at the upcoming European Championships in the TT would really
bolster his hand in talks with any team.
Like Nicolas Roche, Conor Dunne is also on a one-year
deal with Israel Cycling Academy, a team he looks very comfortable in and may
well continue with.
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