Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, December 5, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor Roosevelt
Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the Tour de France, 2022: The Fastest Tour Ever is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- December 15: Namur Cyclocross-Citadelcross
Latest completed racing:
- November 17: Flandriencross
- November 3: European Cyclocross Championships
- November 1: X20 Trofee Oudenaarde-Koppenbergcross
- October 27: Superprestige Overijse-Vlaamse Druivencross
- October 15 - 20: Tour of Guangxi
- October 20: Japan Cup Road Race
- October 20: Veneto Classic
- October 16: Giro del Veneto
- October 13: Chrono des Nations
Here’s the team’s announcement:
INEOS Grenadiers has today announced that Tom Pidcock will leave the team at the end of this season.
The British multi-disciplinary rider has been racing with the INEOS Grenadiers since 2021 and has been a part of some iconic and memorable moments in the sport.
INEOS Grenadiers CEO John Allert said: “We’re really proud of the work we’ve done with Tom to help him achieve some extraordinary and memorable moments. Together we’ve written a powerful chapter and shown how exciting and diverse professional cycling can be.
Tom Pidcock wins the 2023 Strade Bianche. Sirotti photo
“Tom has some big multi-disciplinary goals and we believe this decision enables both of us to pursue our future ambitions with clarity, purpose and determination.
“We thank Tom for the last four years and wish him the best of luck for the future.”
Editor's note: It is my understanding that Pidcock will ride for the Swiss Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team in 2025.
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The team sent me this:
EF-Oatly-Cannondale’s second racing season is going to be even more exciting than our first.
All of the team’s athletes and staff are determined to outdo our inaugural year in the pro peloton. That will be a challenge, but with young recruits bringing their enthusiasm and skills to the roster and new veterans to help lead us, our squad is up to the task.
Sophomore year is supposed to be the hardest, but we’re going to make ours stellar.
“This is my dream roster because we have a really young group but also a really experienced group,” says EF-Oatly-Cannondale general manager Esra Tromp. “The team is a mix of characters and nationalities, a mix of strengths, and all these women are open to learning. I think that's something you really need – that they want to learn from each other, with each other, and grow with each other. ”
Magdeleine Vallieres racing earlier this season.
EF-Oatly-Cannondale got off to a dream start in its debut season in 2024. Noemi Rüegg won our first ever race at the Trofeo Felanitx-Colònia de Sant Jordi and Magdeleine Vallieres backed her up the very next day with her own first victory. From there, the wins only got bigger as our team spirit grew. Kristen Faulkner and Alison Jackson both won stages at the Vuelta. Clara Emond won a mountain stage with a solo attack at the Giro. Racing in her national colors, Kristen won two gold medals at the Paris Olympics. In total, we had 14 victories in 2024. Just as important was how the team came together when the going got tough in races like the Tour de France and the spring classics.
“Pretty quickly we found a good rhythm with the whole team – with the riders and the team staff, how to work together,” Esra says. “Setting it up at the beginning was not easy, especially in a super international environment. That’s something we managed quite well. After the spring, we got better and better every week. Setting up all the goals for all the riders, doing that together with the women, was also really successful. It was very cool that we won stages at the Vuelta and the Giro, and were pretty close with some top fives in the Tour de France. The season was a result of how we set up all the goals.”
Going into 2025, our team’s ambitions are even bigger and we have the roster to pull them off. Cédrine Kerbaol is ready to attack the season with the same verve that won her a Tour de France stage in 2024. New riders Alex Volstad, Babette van der Wolf, Henrietta Christie, and Nina Berton are going to step up and show what they can do in the greatest races. None of them is older than 23.
Sarah Roy meanwhile has been racing at the top level since 2013. The former Australian national champion has joined our team to be a road captain and help lead our young recruits. Last year, she won a stage at the Bretagne Ladies Tour. When she gets her chance, she’ll show her younger teammates how it is done.
Our new riders will join returning athletes Megan Armitage, Letizia Borghesi, Kim Cadzow, Clara Emond, Veronica Ewers, Lotta Henttala, Alison Jackson, Kristen Faulkner, Nina Kessler, Mirre Knaven, Noemi Rüegg, and Magdeleine Vallieres in pink.
Kim, Clara, Mags, Mirre, and Noemi had breakout seasons in 2024. Their big wins and outstanding performances on the world stage just hint at their potential. There’s a lot more to come from them. Megan Armitage and Nina Kessler proved invaluable teammates in all kinds of races last year, be it on the cobbles or in the mountains. Letizia Borghesi was one of the team’s most consistent performers with 19 top-tens last season. She wants to turn those results into wins. Veronica Ewers is looking forward to her return to racing after a break. Veteran sprinter Lotta Henttala will guide her teammates in the bunch kicks and go for wins.
Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner and Paris-Roubaix winner Alison Jackson will lead our squad at the spring classics and the grand tours in 2025.
“We want to do better in the classics, so that’s a goal for next year and this is also what we searched for in terms of riders,” Esra says. “I think we were really successful in building a team. What I want to build is an even stronger, more balanced team that will show more force in the finales of every kind of race. If it’s a climbing race or a classics race or a sprint race, I want to be more present there. That's what we were searching for in this 2025 team. Our depth is our strength. We have a really solid group for every kind of parcours. We are super balanced and we have more depth than in 2024.”
EF-Oatly-Cannondale’s strength will only get deeper as our riders learn and grow together. We are focused on creating an environment in which all of our riders can race at their best and have fun.
“We chose our program really wisely with some good development races,” Esra says. “We have really young riders and also experienced riders, so that balance was chosen really well and was also part of the success of this past year. Our team includes different characters, balancing strength on the bike and off the bike. I’m really excited about this upcoming season, about all of the races. I love to see how the young ones develop. I think they will step up really quickly because they have really good examples. They have the Olympic champion in the team, they have grand tour stage winners in their team. We are a team that really wants to race for each other.”
Bring on sophomore year! EF-Oatly-Cannondale is ready to shine.
EF-Oatly-Cannondale 2025
- Megan Armitage
- Nina Berton
- Letizia Borghesi
- Kim Cadzow
- Henrietta Christie
- Clara Emond
- Veronica Ewers
- Kristen Faulkner
- Lotta Henttala
- Alison Jackson
- Cédrine Kerbaol
- Nina Kessler
- Mirre Knaven
- Sarah Roy
- Noemi Rüegg
- Magdeleine Vallieres
- Babette van der Wolf
- Alex Volstad
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Here’s the team‘s news:
Two riders who spent the 2024 season with the WorldTeam Astana Qazaqstan Team — 22-year-old Colombian Santiago Umba and 25-year-old Kazakhstani Daniil Marukhin — will race for the Continental team Astana Qazaqstan Development Team in 2025.
Both riders are expected to occasionally compete in the races with the main Astana Qazaqstan Team.
“Santiago is still a very young rider, and the 2024 season was challenging for him. At 21, he took part in several WorldTour races and gained invaluable experience, including completing La Vuelta. However, the transition may have been too quick for him, and he needs to take a step back to ensure steady growth in the future. The upcoming season with our Continental team will provide this opportunity.
For Daniil, 2024 was also tough, primarily due to a lack of experience at this high level. Despite this, he showed himself to be a reliable domestique in several races. After discussions with him and our coaching staff, we’ve decided that a season with the Continental team in 2025 will help him avoid unnecessary stress, build confidence, and showcase his true potential.
In any case, both Santiago and Daniil will actively participate in the races with our main team, gradually finding their rhythm and gaining experience without undue pressure”, – said Alexandr Vinokurov, General Manager of Astana Qazaqstan Team.
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Here’s a machine-translation of the team’s news:
On the weekend of December 15th, Cat Ferguson will begin the cyclocross season at the X2O Trofee in Herentals and at the World Cup in Namur.
Movistar Team is proud to announce her international debut in the cyclocross season. The U19 World Champion in cyclocross will make her debut in the Elite/U23 category and will face a calendar with 8 World Cup rounds, including Movistar Team's home race in Benidorm, and a total of 14 cyclocross races.
Cat Ferguson
Cat Ferguson: “I feel very fortunate to have the support of Movistar Team for this cyclocross season. The team's trust in me and the backing they give me is reflected in their willingness to try something new this winter and take on the muddy fields of Belgium. Being my first year in Elite/U23, I am excited to start competing and learn as much as possible, for now without pressure for results. I can't wait for my first race to start on December 14th in Herentals. See you soon, Belgium!”
This new step highlights the Movistar Team's commitment to exploring new disciplines within cycling, while fostering the growth of its emerging talents. Reflecting the team's pioneering spirit and its willingness to accept challenges that generate growth and excitement in the world of cycling.
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