After a great run of three years and flying high, winning the CT division, then ending up 2nd in PCT and getting back-to-back promotions, and finally taking a Top 15 in PT, we hit the floor pretty hard last year, finishing dead last in PT.
But the good news is that our sponsors still believe in our long-term project, with all of them staying on board for the 2026 season! The relegation to PCT is a step back - maybe one that is needed in order to further sharpen our focus - and to be honest, it's the right division when you're a Swiss-focused team, looking at Switzerland's current rider pool.
Nonetheless, we do have some ambitions for the (distant?) future, and we're incredibly thankful for the support that our sponsors provide year after year after year! Even though they know that we might be in for yet another - maybe rough - transition season, they provide us full support - to the extent that they wanted to continue the project even when the manager disappeared!
You all know them - but honour to whom honour is due - these are Jura GIANTS' 2026 sponsors:
Jura Elektroapparate AGMain sponsor
Freshly ground, not capsuled! - Jura's slogan surely is known by anyone by now. The Swiss coffee machine manufacturer is our main sponsor - and name giver - for the 6th year running. Which is a long time, given that our team is only about to tackle their 8th season... Jura are committed to a long-term engagement, and hence also went through the (not so low) CT lows four years ago. We also had a lot of fun and success in PCT with them last time we were here - let's try to continue this success story in 2026!
Who would we be without the legendary coffee bean design on our shirt - definitely not the same team! Let's hope we'll get enough coffee again to keep alive throughout the entire season!
GIANTS SoftwareMinor sponsor
The software house based in Zurich has been a secondary sponsor since our 2nd year, back in 2020 - and hence are tackling year number 7 with us. They're still thinking that the cycling world is a great place to reach future players of their famous Farming Simulator - given that they have extended their contract as an important sponsor, that route must be pretty successful for them!
And after all, it's just great to have GIANTS in the team name - just imagine us to have a sponsor named "dwarves"... To be fair, we were PT's dwarves last year - let's try to be worth of our sponsor's name again in 2026!
Ticino TurismoMinor sponsor
Being our main sponsor in the first two seasons, promoting the Centovalli region, the tourism organization of Switzerland's southernmost canton is still on board as an important supporter! Besides the jersey and bike suppliers, they're the only sponsor left from our inaugural season, and we'd like to thank them for launching the entire project with us, and for staying 8 years (and counting?) with us!
And unlike in our first 5 years, we do now have some Ticinese riders under contract - let's see if we can promote cycling even more in Switzerland's sunniest canton!
Cuore of SwitzerlandJersey sponsor
We have been very satisfied so far with our jerseys Made in Switzerland - and so there's no reason to change! We'll use the same jersey as in 2024 and 2025 - but our merchandising crew keeps telling us we'll need something new next year, so we'll see...
BMCBike sponsor
Why change the bike brand if you can have the best Swiss bikes anyway? BMC have been our bike supplier right from the start, which has been reflected in our growing TT success. The team also analysed our bad performance last year, let's see if they drew the right conclusions and can give us wings again...
Wander AGNutrition sponsor
You need some good sports nutrition to be successful - and who else but Wander, manufacturer of Isostar, could be our choice? We will obviously never use the "Isostar" brand on our jerseys, given how legendary this (greatly missed) team was - but our riders obviously still drink it, but we're hoping to get back the old formula that worked much better until 2024!
Stadler RailTransportation sponsor
Our latest sponsor addition is one of the world's Top 5 rolling stock manufacturers - and even though they don't operate any railway or tramway lines, it was pretty obvious to have them as our transportation sponsor!
A jersey redesign still isn't on the table, so Stadler will still get great visibility on our team bus instead - and we hope that one day we can also build sprint trains that work as well as those made by Stadler!
Never change a winning setup - well, that's no longer fitting after last year's desaster. However, the cooperation is great, and the fact that the sponsors wanted to continue the project even without the team manager just proves their commitment!
There may well be some changes - major or minor, we'll find out - for next year, but we'll inform about any modifications in due time. For the time being, everyone is motivated (again) for year #8 - let's rock PCT again!
Welcome everyone to the 2026 HQ - as a start (before renewals will likely be posted soon), I can recommend you to read our latest Team History update in the 2025 HQ! Given that the 2026 HQ is finally here, I suppose no-one would read that otherwise - but if you're interested in how we managed to get 100 wins in our first 7 years (and other fun numbers), this is the place to go
red The age structure is the main positive point from last year's rebuild I guess... We'll see how much moving around there will be - it could be from almost nothing to a lot. Knowing how boring inactive transfer periods are, I'd bet on the latter though - hopefully for the better this time
Renewals
Whereas renewals are easiest after a promotion - as we had 2 and 3 years ago - they're hardest by far after a relegation. Tough decisions had to be made - including the question: how much of a renewals fee can we accept to pay?
We did have one hope, which was the MGUCI's announcement that performance will have more weight in renewals demands than they previously had. After a really bad season, that should mean that most riders would accept a major paycut.
It turns out - this isn't the case at all. All we did observe was riders getting greedier just because of one or two good results - but underperforming riders were absolutely not willing to accept a wage that reflects their performance. Which is a big bummer, and we deem this unfair and unrealistic.
But it is what it is - we had to deal with this reality. Which also meant deciding on whether we can accept to overspend for underperforming riders, or whether we should release them and try to get them back from Free Agency.
To summarize, the good news is that we have no renewals fee to pay at all! The bad news obviously is that there are some more or less painful losses - let's dive into the details:
Rider
2025 Wage
2026 Wage
Difference
Mauro Schmid
€ 420'000
€ 400'000
- € 20'000
Kaden Groves
€ 470'000
€ 320'000
- € 150'000
Valentin Darbellay
€ 115'000
€ 190'000
+ € 75'000
Gergely Szarka
€ 135'000
€ 125'000
- € 10'000
Stefan Bissegger
€ 105'000
€ 120'000
+ € 15'000
Jake Stewart
€ 117'000
€ 115'000
- € 2'000
"El Chapu" Chapulin
€ 100'000
€ 100'000
€ 0
Jose Fernandes
€ 102'000
€ 100'000
- € 2'000
Niklas Larsen
€ 114'000
€ 100'000
- € 14'000
Pablo Castrillo
€ 420'000
€ 240'000
- € 180'000
Teten Rohendi
€ 90'000
€ 90'000
€ 0
Muhammad Abdurrahman
€ 100'000
€ 90'000
- € 10'000
Jan Sommer
€ 50'000
€ 70'000
+ € 20'000
Filippo Colombo
€ 50'000
€ 50'000
€ 0
AOP Setiawa
€ 55'000
€ 55'000
€ 0
Christoph Janssen
€ 50'000
€ 50'000
€ 0
Fabio Christen
€ 150'000
€ 80'000
- € 70'000
Nils Aebersold
€ 50'000
€ 55'000
+ € 5'000
Robin Donze
€ 50'000
€ 55'000
+ € 5'000
Roman Holzer
€ 50'000
€ 60'000
+ € 10'000
Diego Agustin Ferreyra
€ 420'000
Released (R2)
- € 420'000
Antoine Aebi
€ 50'000
Released (R3)
- € 50'000
Felix Stehli
€ 50'000
No agreement
- € 50'000
Lorenzo Delco
€ 60'000
Released (R3)
- € 60'000
Robin Froidevaux
€ 50'000
Released (R1)
- € 50'000
Arnaud Tendon
€ 10'000
Released (R1)
- € 10'000
You probably see that our frustration is mainly linked to Mauro Schmid's wage - but not only. Yes, he did end up accepting 20k less. But if you score about 1/3 less than the year before, you cannot argue that this is a fair wage. The issue was he was still referring to his MGUCI evaluation which - despite everyone knowing it is clearly too high - didn't get modified. The fact that MGUCI told us that the wages should be more performance-related now didn't lead to Mauro changing his mind.
"Unfortunately", we're a pretty heavily regionally focused team, so we didn't really have a choice other than swallowing this pill - given Mauro's greediness, we're not even sure we'd have gotten him cheaper from the market... So he's staying with us for another year - or at least, he's on the roster heading into transfers. We still believe he could be a great rider with the right tweaks, so despite his awfully high wage it's unlikely that he leaves - but who knows...
On the other hand, we had two riders who agreed on massive paycuts, Kaden Groves and Pablo Castrillo. Both could be expected, as they had an FA-inflated wage before (Pablo still does, Kaden is much closer to his actual value now). That's some big savings we were always banking on, and which greatly helped us staying below the PCT cap. Fabio Christen's paycut is for the same reasons, but to a lesser extent - it will probably be the last paycut he'll agree on during his career...
The most notable raise was - expectedly - awarded to Valentin Darbellay, who did some big offseason training last year and then had a really good season. If he can get close to repeating that (performance-wise, not points-wise given the lower-tier scales), those 190k wouls still be perfectly fine.
Despite his training, Stefan Bissegger only asked for a moderate raise, which was very welcome. On the other hand, Jan Sommer asked for a wage that surprised us, given that he's just a decent domestique but by no means a leader even at PCT level. But after three years of development, we still kind of had to accept his demands.
The biggest surprise though was all of our level 3 talents asking for more than minimum wage, which we really cannot understand. But it isn't the moment for dropping talents, so they got what they asked for - but our expectations obviously will also be higher now...
All other riders who got a contract renewal also are within +/- 15k from last year's wage, with Niklas Larsen accepting a 14k reduction after a horrible season. In total, we get 328k of wage savings across all renewed riders. Which is somewhat OK, but we were hoping for more.
We hoped for bigger reductions, as that would have potentially meant keeping more riders. But in the end, we had to take some tough decisions. You see it in the list, no less than 5 Swiss riders were released. That's harsh. But why them and not some of the non-Swiss riders?
Well, in the case of Arnaud Tendon the fact that he only got a stagiaire contract last year (and none at all the year before) was a pretty clear indication that he would struggle getting a contract in the lower cap reality that is PCT. Similar things are true for Robin Froidevaux, who definitely does have some value - but his age finally led us to decide against a renewal offer.
We did submit an offer for Diego Agustin Ferreyra - an offer we think reflects his value. But he wasn't willing to go from an FA-bloated wage to a performance-related wage in one go, and so we decided to part ways. The same could have happened to Castrillo by the way, but given that the latter's development is still ongoing, we agreed on a more "perspective" wage.
These three departures were more or less expected. For the three others, they actually caught us on the wrong foot with their demands. We wanted to keep all of Lorenzo Delco, Antoine Aebi and Felix Stehli - in particular the latter two given that they just completed their development - but their expectations just weren't in line with what we were willing to offer.
Yes, we could have offered more and accept a renewals fee - and we actually were willing to accept a small fee - but it didn't materialize. In the end, we decided not to submit a final offer for Delco and Aebi, with their age being the main reason. We did submit an offer to Stehli - which he turned down. This came really unexpected, given that we felt that we would have overspent - but Felix decided to go for Free Agency to potentially get an even higher wage.
While it's definitely sad to lose these 6 riders, it's not excluded that some of them could come back - if we can make room for them, and if they decided to accept a more reasonable wage. But for the time being, we'd like to thank all of them for their contribution in the last season and wish them all the best for their future!
Summary While losing in particular Delco, Aebi and Stehli sucks, it's not the end of the world, and the door isn't closed for them. It's definitely not bad news that we just managed to avoid a renewals fee, though.
Overall, we have a 20 rider roster within PCT cap space, and we have all terrains covered (although we lack a bit on the cobbles, admittedly) - so we could actually call transfer season a wrap and just start the season!
However, our sponsors definitely want us to further sharpen our Swiss focus - and that obviously implies some training. Training implies money, and money implies sales. We won't be selling the whole roster, as we also have to stay competitive (back-to-back relegations isn't what we're looking for after all), but there will definitely be some interesting availabilities.
And it's also an open secret that a pretty decent Swiss talent should be on the market - depending on how this situation evolves, we might adapt our transfer strategy... More on availabilities later, though!
Definitely a very interesting spot to be in. Should look good for a straight promotion back to the top flight with very few changes being need to be made. Obviously a potentially very big spanner being thrown in the work depending how deep you want to go for the aforementioned Swiss guy, but even then I think you have more than enough in the tank to promote.
Agree with WJ that the squad is very complete and would be a favorite to promote with no changes. Not sure the strength of Groves' leadout but think he will need one at PCT level. I think Schmid will bounce back, new engine doesn't help him but shouldn't hurt him that much. Also more stage races for that kind of rider in PCT and less focus on long classics.
I have to agree with WJ and UU that you have a great base for promotion. Schmid, Darbellay and Groves are toptop riders here. I also think you already got the leadout train done with Szarka and Larsen, both for this season and fir Christen in the future... Though I do guess someone will have to go to open up space for someones younger brother...
Looking good post-renewals, even with Schmid still getting paid nicely. You look well set for most terrains really and I'm looking forward to seeing what path you take during transfers - light strengthening, or if you will use your strong base to do something a bit our of left field?
Overall it seems like a successful renewals for Jura, managing to stay under cap and retain the main riders relatively painlessly. We had similar woes at the bottom end of the roster, so I feel for you there. It looks to be an active transfer season, I'd imagine some moves to free up some space and some clear targets in FA. Best of luck!
It sucks that the renewal system didn't work quite the way you expected, but I think you handled it well. Avoiding a renewals fee is definitely a nice achievement, and it'll be fun to see what you do in the transfer market. Good luck!
Schmid, Darbellay and Groves are probably a Top 3 leading trio in the PCT as it stands, with a good core behind them. I'm curious about the availabilities, should be a fun transfer window for you
Definitely a very interesting spot to be in. Should look good for a straight promotion back to the top flight with very few changes being need to be made. Obviously a potentially very big spanner being thrown in the work depending how deep you want to go for the aforementioned Swiss guy, but even then I think you have more than enough in the tank to promote.
I think if I just started the season with this roster, it should be enough for Top 10, maybe even promotion. And depending on how the situation around "someone's younger brother", as Heine labelled him, evolves, it's just what I might do. But that would be a boring transfer period, right?
I'm still working on the availability list, trying to figure out how many riders could go without moving us too close to the relegation zone... But the most likely scenario is that we would like to offer Groves another shot at the Green Jersey
Agree with WJ that the squad is very complete and would be a favorite to promote with no changes. Not sure the strength of Groves' leadout but think he will need one at PCT level. I think Schmid will bounce back, new engine doesn't help him but shouldn't hurt him that much. Also more stage races for that kind of rider in PCT and less focus on long classics.
If Groves stays, I think we can figure out a leadout - Stewart actually worked pretty well in the few cases where he got a leadout, I guess a low-acc guy isn't the worst thing for a low-acc sprinter... And yeah, looking forward to find some better suited races for Mauro indeed - and less competition. Or invest a lot of money again into getting another +2 in stamina; in my tests that made him a serious Top 5 contender in many of last year's classics ^^
I have to agree with WJ and UU that you have a great base for promotion. Schmid, Darbellay and Groves are toptop riders here. I also think you already got the leadout train done with Szarka and Larsen, both for this season and fir Christen in the future... Though I do guess someone will have to go to open up space for someones younger brother...
If we can indeed get "someone's younger brother" at a reasonable wage (which I have some doubts about ^^), obviously someone would need to go, yeah. With our regional focus, not very difficult to guess who that "someone" could be
Looking good post-renewals, even with Schmid still getting paid nicely. You look well set for most terrains really and I'm looking forward to seeing what path you take during transfers - light strengthening, or if you will use your strong base to do something a bit our of left field?
I guess even for "light strenthening" we would need to make a couple of moves, given that we're not too far away from the wage cap. But in my experience, riders below the age of 30 are rather attractive, so there's hope
And maybe a certain trio would like to return back home
Overall it seems like a successful renewals for Jura, managing to stay under cap and retain the main riders relatively painlessly. We had similar woes at the bottom end of the roster, so I feel for you there. It looks to be an active transfer season, I'd imagine some moves to free up some space and some clear targets in FA. Best of luck!
Indeed, we were in a similar situation, had a similar outcome - and I'm afraid we'll also have similar "clear targets" in FA
It sucks that the renewal system didn't work quite the way you expected, but I think you handled it well. Avoiding a renewals fee is definitely a nice achievement, and it'll be fun to see what you do in the transfer market. Good luck!
Thanks Yeah, we'll see what transfers bring - as always, I'm hoping for a busy period - but I still have to be somewhat careful to not nuke the team
Schmid, Darbellay and Groves are probably a Top 3 leading trio in the PCT as it stands, with a good core behind them. I'm curious about the availabilities, should be a fun transfer window for you
Yeah, I'm curious about the availabilities as well - and I feel they could completely change within the first 48 hours of transfers, so wondering whether I should even post them before
First of all: It's really nice to see that you changed your mind and stayed in the game. You are a very valuable member of the game, so it would be extremely sad to see you leave. I had that down-period myself, and it somehow became more fun once I found a way out of it. I hope you'll have the same experience!
Renewals went well clearly. Schmid is obviously high, but he's still trainable into a leader level - or perhaps look at Aranburu for inspiration.
First of all: It's really nice to see that you changed your mind and stayed in the game. You are a very valuable member of the game, so it would be extremely sad to see you leave. I had that down-period myself, and it somehow became more fun once I found a way out of it. I hope you'll have the same experience!
Renewals went well clearly. Schmid is obviously high, but he's still trainable into a leader level - or perhaps look at Aranburu for inspiration.
Thanks for the nice words
Well, I did indeed follow Aranburu pretty closely. Schmid and him had some races in common, with Aranburu mostly being more successful. Which is quite logical due to his stats - what is completely off is Schmid's OVL, though. I also considered sending Schmid to the Vuelta and did quite some tests - but it turns out his skills are just a tad too low to be considered in a rather deep field. I did a test with a less crowded field, and he finished 3rd in GC... But when there are many riders with higher Hi/MM stats, he just gets ignored - which is what happened quite a lot during the season. Maybe he'd have been a good scorer in PCT, but in PT his OVL definitely doesn't reflect his scoring potential in the current version.
Or maybe Carlsberg just had more luck this year - I mean, compare Skjelmose and Darbellay, they're very, very similar (with the former being a tad stronger on shorter climbs), but the points difference is more than 300 (at least the higher OVL rider indeed scoring more here). Aranburu scored about 150 more than Schmid, so maybe I just had used up all of my luck in the three previous years
I definitely intend to train Schmid, but it would take a good "sales period" to actually get there. We'll see, it will be interesting...
Jura GIANTS 
