Cannondale plans to close its headquarters in Wilton, Connecticut, by mid-2027. This is according to a filing made on 21 October 2026 with Company announcement published on Pinkbike stands out.
Woudenberg will be the headquarters; Freiburg will centralise development
The company’s current European headquarters in Woudenberg will therefore become its global headquarters. As Velobiz reported on 21 October 2026, several global functions are already based there. Research, development and design activities, which are already largely carried out in Freiburg, are to be further consolidated at the German site.
The industry report cites Europe’s status as Cannondale’s largest and fastest-growing market as the reason behind this move. The company hopes that closer geographical collaboration will lead to better coordination between product development, marketing, research and engineering. Until now, the teams involved have been working from different locations and across several time zones.
For European specialist retailers, the reorganisation is not expected to bring about any changes: according to the company announcement reported by Velobiz, the sales organisation and collaboration with retail partners will remain unchanged. In North America, however, Cannondale is planning a new site on the US west coast and closer collaboration with other Pon.Bike brands, including Santa Cruz and Cervélo.
143 employees are losing their jobs
Pinkbike also reports, citing a letter to Connecticut’s Department of Labour, that 143 jobs are to be lost. The first redundancies are scheduled for 21 December 2026, with further redundancies to follow gradually until 31 December 2027. The office closures and staff reductions therefore have different timetables.
In the North American field sales team, sales representatives will in future be responsible for several Pon.Bike brands. Cannondale promises that this will provide dealers stocking multiple brands within the group with a single point of contact and simpler processes.
As announced back in June: the Almelo assembly plant is set to close
The decision on the location follows another significant development within the parent company, Pon.Bike. As early as 12 June 2026, it announced Pinkbike reports on plans to close the Cannondale assembly plant in Almelo. The press release dated 11 June reproduced there mentions plans to close the site at the end of 2027. According to Pon.Bike, 120 jobs will be affected.
Production is to be phased over to existing plants in Germany and Lithuania. Pon.Bike attributes this move to its cross-brand production strategy: Almelo is exclusively focused on Cannondale and therefore does not fit into the integrated manufacturing network.
At the time, the group assured dealers and buyers that there would be no disruption to supplies and that production of new models would commence as scheduled.
The contrast with the expansion of 2021
A glance at the BIKE archives shows just how much the focus has shifted. On 27 October 2021, we reported on Cannondale’s plans to triple its European production capacity. According to the report at the time, the new assembly plant in Almelo had already opened in September.
Together with another new factory in Rincon, Georgia, these sites are expected to support the company’s growth trajectory. The report cited a potential capacity of 500,000 bicycles for the two factories combined. Larger stock levels are also expected to improve delivery capabilities.
The comparison highlights the change in strategy: back then, the focus was on expanding the company’s own capacity; today, it is on the shared use of sites within the group.
The factory racing programme is also being reorganised
The reorganisation of the racing programme was also made public back in June. According to Cannondale’s announcement regarding the end of the Factory racing programme, the 2026 World Cup season will be the last under the Cannondale Factory Racing banner.
Instead, the brand announced the ‘Cannondale Rogues’ programme for January 2027. It is designed to bring together professional riders, content creators and prominent figures from the cycling community, and will cover mountain biking, gravel riding and other disciplines.
Marc Strucken
Editor