UAE Emirates XRG was last season the best WorldTeam in the world, followed by Visma | Lease a Bike and Lidl-Trek. However, it is expected that the American team will surpass the Dutch team in 2026, according to data from Cyclingflash.com. The Lidl-Trek roster has higher values than that of Visma | Lease a Bike.
In 2025, UAE Emirates XRG was the best team in the world. Visma | Lease a Bike finished second at a fair distance, followed by Lidl-Trek. This ranking is also reflected in our Overall 365-ranking from Cyclingflash. But judging by the team compositions of both squads in 2026, this will not last much longer; the two teams are set to swap places. Data from Cyclingflash below shows that Lidl-Trek’s overall rating for the 2026 roster is slightly higher than that of Visma | Lease a Bike. This is remarkable because the Dutch team scores better on four out of five rating categories.
It’s important to know that we rate teams based on their riders’ scores in five different disciplines: GC (general classification riders), Hill (hill specialists and classics riders), Mountain (climbers), Timetrial (time trialists), and Sprint (sprinters). These five scores together determine the Overall rating. So, from the overview above, you can see that Lidl-Trek’s 2026 squad possesses overall stronger riders than Visma | Lease a Bike, based on their riders’ values. Yet, this is a somewhat flattering picture.
In the Sprint Ranking, Visma | Lease a Bike drops significantly. This is because they lost their top sprinter, Olav Kooij. They have not replaced him in the transfer market, although the successor is already in place with Matthew Brennan. The young Brit entered the pro peloton last season like a shooting star and climbed rapidly in the Sprint Ranking, as his rating soared. As a result, the Dutch team had two highly ranked riders in the Sprint Ranking, one of whom is now not replaced.
Countrymen Mads Pedersen and Jonas Vingegaard - photo: fotopersburo Cor Vos
In the Cyclingflash team ratings, the best riders in a team count more than those with lower ratings. So you could say that Lidl-Trek has improved in depth at the top end of their roster. Practice confirms this. With Ayuso, Lidl-Trek signed the fourteenth-ranked rider in the individual Overall Ranking on CyclingFlash. The highest-ranked new signing of Visma | Lease a Bike is Davide Piganzoli, who appears at position eighty. Incidentally, Visma – with the current riders – still ranks second in our Team Ranking.
Based on the current Team Ranking position compared to the incoming and outgoing transfers for 2026, we see no further shifts in the top-6. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe is the only squad improving across all areas. This is remarkable because aside from the arrival of Remco Evenepoel, no big names have joined. On the other hand, the biggest name among the outgoing transfers is Sam Welsford, who has not yet found a new team. According to the Cyclingflash ranking, the German team will still start in fourth place in 2026.
Surprisingly, Soudal-Quick-Step follows next, having lost their team leader Evenepoel to a direct competitor. In his place, sprinter Alberto Dainese and classics specialists Jasper Stuyven and Dylan van Baarle have signed. This should help the Belgian squad prepare against sixth-placed Decathlon CMA CGM. They strengthened their squad with Kooij, Tiesj Benoot, and Matthew Riccitello among others. Intuitively, they are making a step forward, although strong riders also left on the outgoing side. They lose especially in the Mountain rating.
| Rank | Team | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  UAE Emirates XRG | 20395 |
| 2 |  Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 20021 |
| 3 |  Lidl - Trek | 19982 |
| 4 |  Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 19829 |
| 5 |  Soudal - Quick Step | 19737 |
| 6 |  Decathlon - AG2R La Mondiale | 19571 |
| 7 |  XDS Astana Team | 19519 |
| 8 |  Israel - Premier Tech | 19444 |
| 9 |  Ineos Grenadiers | 19433 |
| 10 | Alpecin - Deceuninck | 19240 |
