The transfer season for women’s professional road cycling began on June 1st. If you are in a UCI team, and you have the opportunity to move to another team which better suits your needs, you can break your existing contract and sign a new contract but only if you properly follow the rules and regulations. The Cyclists’ Alliance is here to help with our own experiences and sound legal advice.
To start the transfer from the rider’s perspective, you will need provide your team with a “Mutual Release” agreement, which is a kind of legal document which allows both you and the team to agree to end your contract early. A properly written Mutual Release agreement will make sure you are paid any salary and expenses which are owed to you before you leave the team, as well as to recover any equipment you personally own (such as your favorite saddles or personal power meter) from the team’s headquarters.
At the same time, a Mutual Release also means you also have to return any equipment the team owns. What is important is that a Mutual Release sets the expectation that you and your team will work together to respectfully settle any obligations you have to each other, so that your team can move on and possibly offer another rider an opportunity, and you can join your new team without any problems.
The Alliance realizes that not every rider can afford legal representation and we have developed a Mutual Release template so that our members can be self sufficient. Or, if you are a member of the Alliance, we can have our legal partners review your Mutual Release to make sure it is filled out with the right information so that you can pursue your new opportunity in professional cycling faster. Once you and your team have signed the Mutual Release and provided a copy to the UCI, you can then sign your new contract. And if you need help with your new contract, don’t worry, the Alliance can help you with that, too! Transfer season is an exciting time, and when a Mutual Release is properly written, it lets you cut ties with the past and look forward to a brighter future.
You can download our template for a proper Mutual Release and an email example you can use to send the request for Release to your team here and we can provide translations into other languages by request. If you have specific questions about transferring teams, you can get in contact with the Board through our contact form and we will be happy to answer your questions!
And if you haven’t become a member of The Cyclists’ Alliance, please consider joining today!