EDWARD PICKERING

When does a series of seemingly unrelated events become a trend? I asked myself this question when looking at a few of the more unusual transfers that took place between the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Niki Terpstra, the double monument winner and this magazine’s cover star, made the unusual journey from Quick-Step Floors (Deceuninck, as it is now known) to Direct Energie. He’s gone from the most successful team of 2018, with whom he won some of the biggest classics in the world, to a ProConti-level team more famous for their presence in ‘TV breaks’ at the Tour de France than for winning big races. And he’s not the only one. André Greipel, 11 times a Tour stage winner, left Lotto Soudal for ProConti Arkéa-Samsic.

There are all kinds of reasons for these moves. An almost guaranteed start at the Tour. A decent paycheck as an outright team leader. The freedom to dictate a calendar. (Greipel might have eyed up Lotto’s wooing of up-and-coming Caleb Ewan and concluded he might not be the first choice any more.) Greater ambition on the parts of these teams to gain a WorldTour licence, or at least compete in the big races may play a role too. Terpstra told us in his interview that he’s confident he’ll have strong backup in his favourite races, and Greipel has already hit the ground running with a win.

Perhaps this all means the hold of the super-teams on the big races could be about to be loosened, as sponsorship money becomes harder to find and they find it harder to hold on to their headline stars. BMC downsized in transitioning to CCC, Sky are possibly in their last season and Deceuninck have lost the reigning Flanders winner. Meanwhile, Arkéa and Direct Energie are looking at race wins that were possibly beyond them before. If Greipel and Terpstra prosper, maybe we’ll see more riders choosing to be bigger fish in smaller ponds in the coming seasons.