I´ll do a short transfer prediction for Bora.
What do we know until now? Thornley will get a WT contract for 2026, we have rumors on Vermeersch and Cattaneo as incoming transfers. Rumors on outgoing transfers: Welsford, Adria and Koch.
On contract extensions we had the rumor that Roglic contract was extended until the end of 2026 and Lipowitz signed a multi year contract - don´t know how long this one is valid. Also Moscon signed a longer contract then visible on PCS, but I don´t know for how long. Just heard in an interview. But he will be with the team minimum 2026. This makes 22 riders with a valid contract for 2026. So the core of the team will stay together.
Contracts expiring:
- Adria
- Koch
- Welsford
- Maciejuk
- Mullen
- Palzer
- Sobrero
- Wandahl
Adria is very likely to leave the team and head over to Movistar. This year he is not as succesful as last year, but I would have loved if he renewed his contract. He is a very valuable asset as a domestique and in some races he can ride for himself. But I think he wants more leadership in hilly races and I think thats not possible at Bora at the moment.
There are some rumors that Koch is about to leave to UAE. I would also renew his contract as he is helpful domestique, but it will be his last bigger contract and I see a possibility that he is leaving and with Thornley you already have the perfect replacement with a higher ceiling in the coming years.
Welsford is leaving to Ineos (based on the latest rumors). Outside the australian races he was just not performing at Bora. Don´t know if he is struggling to much with the "european" races or other things are blocking him. With the right schedule - Australian races, smaller stage races he can deliver nice wins but he didn´t made the step to a high class sprinter and so its good that he is leaving Bora.
On Palzer there were some rumors that he will extend his contract, don´t know why. I like him but he missed again to make the next step. Maybe a one year extension to give his spot in 2027 to a youngster? As Palzer is very likely to sign "any kind of contract" (short term and low on salary)
Mullen and Maciejuk are depending on the sprint situation I think. I believe that no big sprint name is coming in. So the sprinters for the next season will be Meeus, van Poppel and Pithie. If you give these riders the right support and the right races they will deliver wins and you don´t need a new expensive sprinter, as there is no top guy on the market (except Kooij who is heading to Decathlon). I´m alright on that, as Bora is unlikely to send a big sprint train to a GT and all of these three guys can be versitail and can score results without big support and when you give them the support they can win even in bigger stage or one day races. Maybe not 10 wins a year, but 3-5 are possible.
Wandahl didn´t made the step due to different reasons. I think its time to part ways for both sides. Bora can no longer give him freedom in some races and he is to young to be a pure domestique. Maybe UNO X would be a good fit?
I would extend the contract of Matteo Sobrero. Medium mountain guy, that is also good in the flat (or vice versa). Perfect rider for a GT as a domestique.
So in my scenario 4 are leaving (Adria, Koch, Welsford and Wandahl) and one new rider is safe (Thornley). So 4 spots left (as Bora had only 29 riders under contract in 2025).
Gianni Vermeersch is likely to join. A classic rider with experience in gravel races (former gravel world champion). He perfectly fills a open spot in the team, he can support the GC leaders in gravel stages during grand tours. Is a experienced guy in the classics that can step in as a leader when needed or advice the younger classic guys in what to do and where to be in the decisive moments.
Mattia Cattaneo is also a perfect fit. Moutain domestique and good TT rider. You can send him to grand tours and he will be a good domestique without ambitions on personal results in these races. This is a spot where Bora struggled these days. Who will ride first in the mountains and sacrifices his own chances? Now you have a rider that can take over this job and still be there until the last climb and then the leaders can race.
Two spots left. For me two more Devo guys will step up. After his very impressive Giro Next Gen I see Luke Tuckwell as WT rider in 2026. Good hilly/mountain rider. The other one should be Lennart Jasch. He made the switch from Ice skating to road cycling, he has an impressive engine and already showed his talent when riding with the world tour squad. Also his performance in the german nationals was quite good. Next week he will start in the sibiu tour as a leader. I believe he can achieve a top 5 GC result here. This can likely be the race where he is securing his WT contract.
No room for a surprising addition from the outside. But you have two riders Mullen and Palzer that you can "sacrifice" for a good opportunity from the outside or for another rider from the Devo team that could step up. Boichis and Putz would be the logical candidates, regarding Boichis I don´t see how he could combine this with MTB and Putz is very loyal but I think a little bit is missing for a contract at Bora.
Finn should ride one more year with the Devo Team. He had to finish school this first half of the year. So he is just starting to fully focus on cycling. Give him some smaller races with the world tour and leadership at Giro and l´Avenir next year and all good (of course just if he already signed a WT contract with Bora for 2027 otherwise sign him in 2026).
If all this is happening (or close to it), then Bora is heading in the right direction in my point of view. Even next year they wont be a super team as UAE, Visma and Lidl, some people do have to high expectations. It will take another year or two. But they will do one step up. Be more competitive in grand tours and classics, because they adressed weaknesses and some riders will hopefully do not have as much bad luck as this first half of the year (Vlasov, Lazkano, Hindley, van Gils, Martinez) and some riders will progress (Pithie, Pellizzari, van Dijke).
And also the staff around the team will learn from this season and hopefully will do a step up in teamwork, classic tactics etc. and who knows maybe we will see more transfers on the staff too.