COMO — James Knox fears Il Lombardia could prove to be the final race of his career as the British climber remains without a contract for next season. At the start of the Italian Monument, Knox hoisted his bike onto its rear wheel and spun the front wheel as he and the peloton formed a tunnel of bikes in honour of five retiring riders, a guard of honour he admitted left him wondering whether he should be in the middle himself.
"I'm currently without anything for next year," Knox told Cyclingnews ahead of the race, adding "it’s become a situation where it might be hard for me to get anything for next year." The 30-year-old, who turns 31 next month, described a frustrating campaign: "It's been a disappointing season for me personally, and also the team has struggled as well. So it's not been the best. I would say it's been a tough period. I never really got going, had some setbacks, and here we are – it feels like the end of the season. I never really showed myself very well at any point, so it's frustrating in that regard."
Knox spent eight seasons at QuickStep before joining Picnic-PostNL on a one-year deal for 2026 that, as things stand, will not be renewed. It has been a disastrous year for the Dutch squad, who have won just twice all season and sit bottom of the WorldTour team ranking, outranked by 10 second-division ProTeams. After nine years in the WorldTour, Knox acknowledged the prospect of stepping away feels premature but increasingly real.
"Of course I wish I did have something," he said. "I would still cross my fingers, but the reality of the situation with cycling now, with limited space for the WorldTour teams, many, many quality riders, a lot of focus on points, and younger riders coming through with guaranteed contracts from development teams… I think it's become a situation where it might be hard for me to get anything for next year." He added: "This is the trials and tribulations of how lucky we are to be here, but at the same time, it's extremely difficult to stay here, to stay on top of your game. It's professional elite sport, at the end of the day and there are always people coming up, always riders proving themselves, so you've got to fight for your spot every year. I’ve had a good career regardless. So it might be hard to step down all the levels, to keep fighting, to come back, but yeah… let's say for WorldTour and ProConti it’s looking pretty hard." Knox has already sampled life beyond racing, appearing as a studio pundit for TNT Sports during the Giro d’Italia, an experience he said he was "really happy to do for a few days at the Giro, and who knows where the future goes." The final Monument also saw George Bennett reveal remarkable power data from the Lombardia breakaway.