Should cycling have a transfer window between the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France?
The current system is far from perfect, and rider agent Martijn Berkhout has solutions
Few people in cycling would argue that the transfer system within the sport is perfect. The UCI’s August 1 deadline for negotiations and announcements needs to be updated, and isn’t fit for purpose, while breaking contracts deep into the off-season has the potential to destabilise teams and threaten sponsorships.
New UCI regulations that allow for a mid-season transfer window in August and then again in the autumn are aimed at improving the situation but Martijn Berkhout, a partner at SEG, believes that while the new windows are well meant, they sit at completely the wrong time in the sporting calendar.
Berkhout, who has represented many of cycling’s top stars, from Kirsten Faulkner to Dylan van Baarle and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, has also worked as part of SEG’s arm in football, and believes that cycling should take a leaf out of the beautiful game’s book and move the first transfer window to a more exciting point in the year with riders able to move teams between the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.
The Dutch agent would bring the chance unilaterally, to both men’s and women’s cycling.
“For me, the discussions around transfers in cycling are always negative,” Berkhout told us.
“It’s very rider-focused, so it's about a rider not being happy or valued by their team. The sport is moving and the loyalty between riders and teams is changing. The Robert Gesinks, riders who have spent their entire career with one team, will become even rarer. Cycling needs to adapt and change and the solutions now are quite simple,” he added.