The cycling transfer season has officially begun. As of August 1, after the Tour de France concludes, teams and riders are able to announce their new contacts for the subsequent season. This 2022/2023 transfer market sees several top riders searching for greener pastures.

FloBikes looks at the top transfers making the waves as cycling heads towards the second half of 2022 ahead of the new 2023 year.

Mark Cavendish

Mark Cavendish is the best sprinter of the past decade, a fact he reminded everyone of in the 2021 Tour de France. Despite his resurgent form, Cavendish appears to be aging out of the young, competitive Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl squad. 

Cavendish's future has not yet been made public, but rumors have linked him to both EF Education, and B&B Hotels-KTM for the 2023 season. 

Cavendish will likely be the undisputed top sprinter on whichever team he arrives at. While he will face less competition for roster selections, he will lose the well drilled Quick Step lead out train that delivered him to his record tying 34th Tour de France stage win. 

Dylan Van Baarle

Dylan van Baarle has been with Team Ineos since 2018. While he long been been a consistent force in the classics and a loyal domestique in grand tours, but the Dutchman seems to have just arrived at top form in the past two years. 

Van Baarle took second place in the 2021 World Championships in Flanders, then took another second place in this year's Ronde van Vlaanderen. Two weeks later, Van Baarle took the most significant victory of his career at Paris-Roubaix, solidifying himself as a top classics contender.

With his contract up for renewal, Van Baarle now demands top dollar. The Netherlands-based Jumbo-Visma, is willing to write the check. This move signifies that Jumbo-Visma, a Tour de France winning "super-team," which was built largely in Ineos' image, is now able to lure top talent away from the British squad. 

Adam Yates

Adam Yates joined INEOS Grenadiers in 2021, a move which garnered much excitement as the British searched for a new British GC captain after losing Chris Froome. Yates earned Ineos the Volta a Catalunya overall win and placed 10th in the 2022 Tour de France, but after two years, looks to be leaving as the team. 

Rumors suggest that Ineos in unwilling to pay Yates' asking price. As a result, Yates may return to BikeExchange, where he will join forces once again with his twin brother Simon. Adam's transfer would parallel that of Eddie Dunbar, who is confirmed to be leaving INEOS for BikeExchange.

Richard Carapaz

The Ecuadorian climber, winner of the 2019 Giro d'Italia and third in the 2021 Tour de France, is saying adios to INEOS for EF Education-EasyPost. He will slot in in a GC lineup which has long been led by Colombian Rigoberto Uran. The Olympic road race champion stands to significantly bolster the American team's grand tour ambitions.

Tim Wellens

The Belgian climbing and mid-mountain ace will leave Lotto-Soudal for UAE Team Emirates. His move looks remarkably similar to fellow Belgian Tiesj Benoot's 2022 transfer to Jumbo-Visma. 

Wellens has won stages in the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, but his true value at UAE will be providing Pogačar with much needed reinforcement in hilly transition stages of the Tour de France. 

Pogačar will also receive more Slovenian helpers in 2023 with Domen Novak joining from Bahrain Victorious. Rui Costa and Fernando Gaviria are leaving the UAE, with the former heading to Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux and the latter still yet to announces his future.