Xero Racing have firmly established themselves in the Pro Tour after a decade in the sport, the team celebrating their 10th anniversary with a 10th place finish to back up the previous year’s 7th. Joseph Areruya has matched that with a 3rd and 4th finish in the Individual Rankings, taking a Monument victory in each season as well as a Grand Tour podium in the Vuelta a Espana last season. 30 years old, how the time flies. Now his peak is exactly halfway done - what do you do with the rest of it?
The story of last season was depth at last. So much depth that for (somehow) the first time in team history, Xero actually won a Teams Classification. Where, you may ask? Oh, the Tour de France. Nothing special. Daan Olivier won on Mont Ventoux and was 7th on GC, Fouche at Cauterets, while Blums (19th on GC), Martin, Martinez, Dzhus, Novardianto, and Lutsyshyn provided breakaways and support en route to one of the team’s most special races. Elsewhere, Paulus and Areruya ensured that for 8 successive Grand Tours (and 9 out of 10 total), the team brought a stage win home. In the standings, Blums, Fouche, Tesfaye Heyi and Paulus all brought in over 200 points behind the leading quartet, while new signings Lutsyshyn, Redy (stage winners at the Volta a Portugal), Frankovic, and Martinez joined returners Martin, van Niekerk, and team legend Hugo Houle (back for one last season) in triple digits also. You’d hardly remember how down badly the team was a few days into transfers, trading away Filippo Ganna in anticipation of a new leader that never came.
The other leaders did their part behind Areruya, using highlight rides to redeem underwhelming seasons. Olivier’s tough season was forgotten in the glory of his Tour de France - sitting a lowly 23rd after 12 days, his raid on Ventoux and a strong final week propelled him to a memorable 7th. Vermeersch found the learning curve steep in his first taste of northern classic leadership, but took a commanding first professional victory at the Tour of the Battenkill, counterattacking one Mads Pedersen and soloing to the win from distance. Pidcock didn’t quite match his breakout 2024, but 17th in the standings is still a success. Ganna’s replacement Rune Herregodts, on loan out at Evonik, finished with 400 points also and will make his Xero debut in 2025.
With the decline of many of those depth riders and the continued aging of Olivier, by now not a true stage race leader, means that Xero do have some work to do in transfers to repeat their scoring - but an overall good renewals has given them some amount of cap room to do so with. What do they want to do with it - and is everyone safe from the trade block. Who knows? But the future feels littered with options, and it certainly shouldn’t be the uphill battle to arrange the squad that the last four years have been, between large renewals fines in 2022 and 2023, the entry into PT in 2024, and the culling down to 11 riders in last year’s renewals.
What that future brings depends if you ask the media (title challengers when?) or the team management (a sustainable Top 5-10 team please!). A big hole sits in their salary cap - how do you add the finishing touches to a team in the lower top half with a squad with runway to go for a few years yet? A nice problem to have, perhaps, but still one you feel it's important to solve correctly. However, as they have made more than clear by now, Xero Racing’s beloved jersey isn’t made to blend into the peloton. Three monuments and stage wins at every Grand Tour, their top riders establishing rivalries at the top - the bucket list keeps getting shorter, but that is only adding more new goals to tick off.
About: The overnight success that is Xero is now an international company still based in little ol' NZ. They develop online accounting software for small businesses but are moving into larger clients as well. Sponsor Since: 2016 Contract Until: 2026 Focus Nations: New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain (minor), United States (minor)
Xero stepped in at the last minute in 2016, and since then have been a great asset to the team and are now nearly synonymous with us after seven years as title sponsor. They had publicly noted their disappointment in our lack of impact on the young blood of New Zealand cycling and with only two full-time New Zealand riders left in the team, there were always serious questions as to whether Xero would want to continue, with rumours their renewal for 2021 had more to do with PT exposure than local interest. However in the 2020s, corporate reshuffling and aggressive international expansion led higher ups to see the team in a new light, and after an initial two-year renewal for 2023/24, they are now in the final year of another extension, with no reason to believe change is coming.
About: Qhubeka is a non-for-profit, the South African programme of World Bicycle Relief, distributing bikes to help connect people to schools, clinics and jobs. Sponsor Since: 2018 Contract Until: 2026 Focus Nations: South Africa
A charity which helps use bicycles to support communities in poverty, as well as as a tool to help people of any age move forward in life. Not a sponsor by any means, quite the opposite. We ride for Qhubeka to increase awareness and taking part in fundraising, both of them increasing their funds and reach. We are delighted to continue a two-year renewal of our partnership with Qhubeka.
About: Visit Rwanda is a premier tourism company operating in, you guessed it, Rwanda. Sponsor Since: 2019 Contact Until: 2028 Focus Nation: Rwanda, The World (minor)
The Rwandan tourism company stepped up their involvement in the team after local hero Joseph Areruya established himself as a star in 2021 with his 27th-placed finish in the Pro Tour, including gaining huge exposure and popularity with an aggressive Giro d'Italia, where he won the white jersey. After two seasons of massive exposure in the PCT, in the last two years he has hit new heights as one of the very best riders in the world, finishing 3rd and 4th in the PT Individual Rankings and winning Africa's first monument at the Giro di Lombardia, following it up with its second at Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Safe to say he's been in a few advertising campaigns for them by this point.
The Secondary Sponsors
Spoiler
About: Octagon is the sports and entertainment marketing division of the Interpublic Group (IPG). The IPG is one of the "big four" advertising companies and so being sponsored by the South African arm of the sports arm of the IPG is a smaller deal but with big background. Sponsor Since: 2016 Contract Until: 2026 Focus Nations: South Africa, The World
Octagon help us get our name on the backs of buses, billboards, wherever, in our target countries. Good for publicity, finances and fans. They have stepped down from their title sponsor role (2016-18) but maintain a solid presence within the team as our marketers and talent representatives. We are very pleased with the work they do and proud to have them onboard through to what will be our eleventh season in 2026 - along with Xero they are our only remaining sponsors from our inaugural season.
About: Castle Lager is South Africa's favourite beer and is now available in over 40 countries worldwide. Sponsor Since: 2019 Contact Until: 2027 Focus Nations: South Africa, The World (minor)
Castle Lager continues their long association with South African sport as they extend for another two seasons with us.
About: Expedia is an American online travel shopping company - from flights to hotels and cars. Sponsor Since: 2022 Contract Until: 2027 Focus Nations: The World
Expedia joined us as a new sponsor in our second PCT stint, and we are very pleased with our work with them as a secondary sponsor and also our travel partner!
The Minor Sponsors and Partners
About: Cell C are a South African mobile operator and telecommunications company. Sponsor Since: 2022 Contract Until: 2026 Focus Nations: South Africa
Cell C, much like Castle Lager, have a long-time involvement with South African sport, and after MTN and Telkom used to sponsor Project: Africa, Cell C are the third such company to be involved with South African cycling teams.
About: Stoney Creek are New Zealand's most trusted brand in outdoor clothing. Sponsor Since: 2022 Contract Until: 2026 Focus Nations: New Zealand, Australia (minor), Great Britain (minor), United States (minor), Canada (minor)
Stoney Creek make amazing products which keep our team warm and protected off the bike, and the riders have been very happy with their first foray into cycling-specific gear and are very pleased they signed another two-year deal as clothing supplier, and also extending as a sponsor too.
About: Telkom Indonesia is a majority state owned telecommunications company, the largest in Indonesia. Sponsor Since: 2017 Contract Until: 2026 Focus Nations: Indonesia
Team legend Jamalidin Novardianto is an absolute fan favourite and nowhere is this more clear than in his home country of Indonesia. Not investing too much money, the state-owned telecommunications firm wanted in and are essentially sponsoring the team, just so they know we're tight and all, as long as he rides for us. So until he retires, then - a day which unfortunately may be getting closer. They are the third of our sponsors to have been on this journey since the CT days, having signed on in our second season!
Why change perfection? It's another year in our absolutely stunning kit, by prolific and super-talented designer the_hoyle! Special thanks to Ezeefreak for updating the logos to reflect sponsor changes in 2021.
Another positive renewals for the team, with cap space freed up, and this time without letting half the squad go! Seven departures still, but with three loanees returning the team do not need as much of a free agent frenzy as they did twelve months ago, with the squad numbering a healthy 16 riders after the renewals period.
At the top, Areruya and Pidcock took even further paycuts (last year they combined for 120k) as part of their commitment to the team's future - and perhaps recognition of their generous compensation in previous seasons. Among the other leaders, Vermeersch took a small raise while, in recognition of his work at training camp, Rune Herregodts is brought more in line with his value, basically making the leadership team worth as much as they were last season.
Daan Olivier stays with the team after accepting a huge cut, for which the team is grateful. In previous seasons the team have struggled to accept the unwieldy wages demanded by aging stars, but the ever-professional Olivier settled on a fair amount and so remains a high value-for-money rider despite his advancing years.
Further down the line, GT stars Blums and Fouche gain small rises, while new FA additions such as Martinez and Lutsyshyn take cuts to bring them more in line with their true value minus the signing bonuses afforded by an FA acquisition. Some risers and fallers below, while Ivan Romeo and Nate Pringle both took expected cuts after their neo-pro free agent signings last year.
As mentioned, seven riders departed the team. All leave us with nothing but nice words to say. Valgren, Dzhus, and Martin were tireless domestiques who scored well for themselves too. Daniel Paulus goes down as perhaps the greatest minimum wage signing in team history with 205 points last year and a memorable Giro d'Italia stage victory. Henok Tesfaye Heyi, a true Xero icon by now for his amazing scoring value, also began his decline and couldn't agree terms - the team are open to his return though he may choose to ride for another home team.
Stanislau Bazhkou and Hugo Houle, long since thought gone, both leave Xero for a second and final time, and will be paid a full and proper tribute at a later date. Both are part of the Xero family forever, with Houle in particular needing no introduction as one of the team's very best to ever do it. Their experience and talent will be sorely missed in the squad.
Old Wage
New Wage
Change?
Joseph
Areruya
€800,000
€740,000
-€60,000
Thomas
Pidcock
€500,000
€460,000
-€40,000
Florian
Vermeersch
€280,000
€290,000
€10,000
Rune
Herregodts
€160,000
€240,000
€80,000
Martins
Blums
€132,000
€135,000
€3,000
Daan
Olivier
€345,000
€184,000
-€161,000
James
Fouche
€125,000
€143,000
€18,000
Daniel Felipe
Martinez
€140,000
€90,000
-€50,000
Roman
Lutsyshyn
€110,000
€75,000
-€35,000
Morne
Van Niekerk
€75,000
€68,000
-€7,000
Dylan
Redy
€50,000
€60,000
€10,000
Jamalidin
Novardianto
€50,000
€50,000
-
Arvid
De Kleijn
€50,000
€50,000
-
Mateo
Frankovic
€60,000
€60,000
-
Ivan
Romeo
€250,000
€140,000
-€110,000
Nate
Pringle
€55,000
€50,000
-€5,000
Daniel
Paulus
€50,000
Released
-€50,000
Henok
Tesfaye Heyi
€60,000
Released
-€60,000
Guillaume
Martin
€50,000
Released
-€50,000
Volodymyr
Dzhus
€50,000
Released
-€50,000
Hugo
Houle
€88,000
Released
-€88,000
Stanislau
Bazhkou
€50,000
Released
-€50,000
Michael Valgren
Andersen
€50,000
Released
-€50,000
Total:
-€745,000
Though there's one or two negotiations the team may wish to take another swing at, overall it's positive if not groundbreaking signs at Xero HQ coming into transfers. The team's availability post is expected within the next 1-2 days as they look forward to the transfer period with great excitement and a little nerves about what is sure to be a hectic market. In the meantime, to all you other teams, get working on those availability posts and don't be shy with the dots!
Xero Racing 2026 
Australia, 
Great Britain (minor), 
United States (minor)
Rwanda, 
The World (minor)
Thomas Pidcock
Daniel Paulus
Henok Tesfaye Heyi
Guillaume Martin
Hugo Houle
Stanislau Bazhkou
Michael V. Andersen
Filippo Ganna
Matti Manninen
Yacine Hamza
Sergei Pomoshnikov
Farzad Khodayari
Ziga Horvat [Loaned In]
Salim Kipkemboi
Nils Schomber
Oier Lazkano [Loaned In]
Daniel Habtemichael
Bachirou Nikiema
Darren Young
Jordan Schleck
Luke Rowe
Syver Waersted [Loaned In]
Carl Ngamoki-Cameron
Mingrun Chen [Stagiaire]
Than Tung Huynh [Stagiaire]
Akramjon Sunnatov [Stagiaire]
Marvain Tognama Kossouhorou
Peter Velits
Geremie Nzeke
Rei Onodera [Loaned In]
Egidijus Juodvalkis
Jonathan Salinas
Ok Cheol Kim [Stagiaire]
Tour of Qatar
Classique du Grand-Duché
Franceville Classique
Tour de Romandie
GP Liechtenstein
Volta a Catalunya
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
