It’s said that the hardest contract to obtain in cycling is the second one. A neo-pro will often pen their first WorldTour deal based on promise with teams willing to take a calculated risk for a smaller financial outlay on untapped potential. The second contract, however, is only offered on the back of results. If a rider hasn’t proven their worth, their spot goes to a younger rider.

Cycling is littered with stories of riders dropping out of the top tier in their early 20s, with few making it back. So when Mark Donovan was told midway through the 2022 season that DSM – the team he signed a three-year neo-pro contract with in 2020 – would not be renewing terms, the Englishman understandably feared if he’d ever get another chance to race in Grand Tours, Monuments and other high-level WorldTour races. 

“It was one of the toughest moments in my not very long career so far. Knowing I wasn’t staying with DSM because they didn’t want me, and to be quite honest, not wanting to stay either, I wasn’t forgotten about, but I was definitely looking around for a contract just hoping for a sniff from somewhere. But I wasn’t having much luck,” Donovan tells Rouleur. “It’s not like I had a bad time at DSM and it wasn’t a bad fit –  I certainly don’t regret going there – but I don’t think they got the most out of me.

This article was published on Rouleur during the 2025 Giro d’Italia. You can read the full article here.