CyclistPro cycling transfer rumour mill: Vollering, Philipsen and Alaphilippe considering movesIts all kicking off in the 2025 pro cycling transfer market. We havent even reached the Grand Tours yet, but there are plenty of rumours already emerging in the race paddock surrounding riders future contracts.As is now customary in transfer dynamics, external rider transfers cannot be publicly announced until 1st August, with the exception of neo-pro signings or in-house transfers from development teams. That doesnt stop the rumour mill though rumours are spinning long before the watershed opening to the transfer market.For the men, the biggest names on the market this year are Julian Alaphilippe, Jasper Philipsen, Jai Hindley, Simon Yates, Stefan Kng and Romain Bardet. For the women, world champion Lotte Kopecky has already extended with SD Worx while the Tour de France Femmes champion Demi Vollering faces a new round of contract negotiations. Elsewhere, Lizzie Deignan, Juliette Labous and Pauline Ferrand-Prvot are all out of contract. Related Posts What does Red Bulls takeover of Bora-Hansgrohe mean for cycling? Who actually are the pro cycling team sponsors 2024? Giro dItalia 2024: Stage-by-stage preview and how to watch Demi Vollering to leave SD WorxA.S.O./Charly LopezIn March, GCN broke the news that Demi Vollering will be leaving SD Worx-Protime at the end of 2024. After a partnership that has seen multiple Classics victories a Tour de France Femmes title among other grand feats the Dutch champion will take herself elsewhere for 2025. Undoubtedly the biggest name in the womens market this year, there is a fierce and exclusive battle for the current yellow jersey holder.Sources disclose that Vollerings agent was in serious talks with Lidl-Trek up until the Tour of Flanders when the American team pulled back their interest in support of their current rosters future objectives.FDJ-Suez remain a strong contender, but the viability of this rumour is up in the air as the team lays eyes on other objectives. Elsewhere, UAE Team ADQ have fallen out of the mix.Vollering, who according to sources has been offered a 1 million per year contract, is running out of options if she wants to remain adamant about a move away from SD Worx. We wait with bated breath to see who enters the ring as Vollerings future home.Jasper Philipsen considers his futureSara Cavallini/Getty ImagesWith an expiring contract, Tour de France green jersey winner, Jasper Philipsens stock value has risen greatly since he penned his first contract at Alpecin-Deceuninck. Six Tour stages, a green jersey and a Monument win later, the Belgian is having a rethink about his future.There were plenty of murmurs about Philipsens destination following his win at Milan-San Remo. Initially, five teams emerged as rivals for Philipsens 2025 contract, including the upcoming UCI ProTeam Tudor Pro Cycling who have been making waves in the transfer market over the past 12 months.However, after a solid silver medal ride at Paris-Roubaix, the race for the Belgians signature has thinned down to just three teams: UAE Team Emirates, Bora-Hansgrohe and his current team Alpecin-Deceuninck. An extension at Alpecin-Deceuninck feels like the sensible choice, but will Philipsen follow the money in 2025?Tim de Waele/Getty ImagesFormerly on the UAE Team Emirates payroll, Philipsen has close ties to the team. Taking his first Grand Tour stage win with the squad back at the 2020 Vuelta, it would be a natural choice for Philipsen to return to the outfit.That said, UAE Team Emirates have been thinning out their sprinting fleet in favour of more climbers and Grand Tour talents. It would be hard to imagine a steam locomotive sprint train if Philipsen returns to the Middle Eastern squad.Bora-Hansgrohe, on the other hand, sounds like a viable option on paper. A sprinting powerhouse since their early days, the ambitious German squad has won sprint stages at all three Grand Tours. Now under Sam Welsfords helm, would the team be willing to take on another sprinting engine alongside growing GC ambitions? Well, Ralf Denk has squashed these rumours, claiming that the Belgian sprinter is too expensive, which is somewhat surprising considering the Red Bull buyout. Perhaps theyresaving room for another Belgian sprinter.Bora-Hansgrohe claim upcoming Classics starsJames York/Matt GraysonAfter a break-out spring, New Zealands rising star, Laurence Pithie, looks set for a change of scenery in 2024. Leading the charge is aspiring superteam Bora-Hansgrohe who are set to have a Red Bull rebrand later this year. The Kiwi will join a large Anglophone contingent at the squad, with Pithie leading their future Classics objectives.Backed up by the potential signing of Spanish road champion and cult favourite, Oier Lazkano, Bora have been making their name known early in the season as one of the transfer top dogs for 2025.Not quite a future talent, but seasoned Slovenian Jan Tratnik has also been rumoured to move to Bora in 2025. Winner of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Tratnik would relish the opportunity to reunite with countryman and former team-mate Primo Rogli.Alaphilippe and Asgreen to leave Soudal-QuickStepTim de Waele/Getty ImagesThe relationship between Julian Alaphilippe and Patrick Lefevere, the team manager at Soudal-QuickStep, has been particularly sour in recent months. The Belgian, who often airs out his distaste and disappointment for Alaphilippe in his soap-box style column in Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, took his public spat with Alaphilippe to new extremes recently by bringing his partner, Tour de France Femmes race director Marion Rousse, into the mix. In a public back-and-forth, the plot thickened this week as rumours emerged that Alaphilippe has been riding the spring Classics with a pretty serious knee injury.Currently, Cofidis have the early jump for Alaphilippes signature. It would make sense for Alaphilippe to move to the squad to help them in their quest to remain at the UCI WorldTour level once the next relegation comes in 2025. Similarly, TotalEnergies have emerged as a viable option for the former world champion. In previous years, there has been a link between Vincent Lavenus Decathlon-AG2R squad and the French puncheur, however, this almost annual tradition has not re-emerged yet.Asgreens results have been mixed since his stellar cobble campaign in 2021, which culminated in a Tour of Flanders win. The Dane has shown little sign of his previous form in the cobbled Classics, and his time-trial engine has been waning in recent years as well.Salvaged by a Tour de France stage win last year in Bourg-en-Bresse, Asgreens market potential is unknown. A close friend of Alaphilippe, we could see the two move together, but it is looking likely that the duo will go their separate ways in 2024 as Asgreen is linked to Uno-X Mobility.Lenny Martinez to Bahrain VictoriousRafa Gomez/SprintCyclingAgencyOnly 20 years of age, the Frenchman Lenny Martinez has made a big splash on the WorldTour in thet past 12 months. A win at the Mont Ventoux Challenge in 2023 prefaced a Vuelta that saw the youngster from Cannes take the leaders red jersey for a couple of stages. In 2024, Martinez bagged one-day wins at the Trofeo Laigueglia, Classic Var and a runners-up place at the highly competitive O Gran Camio in Spain. It has been certain for a while that Martinez will leave the French team he has ridden with since his youth days. Instead, his destination looks set to be Bahrain Victorious, who will sign the rider for the next three seasons. RMC Sport claims that Martinez has already signed a deal worth 800,000, a sum four times larger than his pay cheque at his current team Groupama-FDJ.Subtle handshakesA.S.O./Billy CeustersOn the mens side, some big names have already been taken out of the rumour mill machine courtesy of contract extensions. Some GC contenders have decided to stay put for another couple of seasons as Mattias Skjelmose extends with Lidl until 2026, Felix Gall remains with Decathlon-AG2R for another two years, and Sasha Vlasov is set to stay at Bora-Hansgrohe despite serious interest from Astana Qazaqstan.For the women, Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes have penned hefty contract extensions until 2028, while Gaia Realini puts her future in the hands of Lidl-Trek with an extension until 2027.Curious where the money for these big contracts comes from? Brush up our breakdown of all the WorldTour team sponsorsThe post Pro cycling transfer rumour mill: Vollering, Philipsen and Alaphilippe considering moves appeared first on Cyclist.