Tom Pidcock, Remco Evenepoel and the cyclocross World Cup in Sardinia all make the ‘Headlines’ in today’s EUROTRASH Monday. A big storm caused the cancellation of the cross, Tom Pidcock moves to Q36.5 Pro Cycling and more news from Evenepoel and his crash.
TOP STORY:
- Tom Pidcock moves to Q36.5 Pro Cycling
Rider news:
- Pogačar on riding three Grand Tours: ’30 teammates, they deserve a chance too’
- Tom Boonen gives Pogačar Paris-Roubaix tips
- Wout van Aert to ride six cross races, but no championships
- Remco Evenepoel leaves hospital and has changed his spring plans
- Oumi Evenepoel shares photos of Remco’s accident
- European Parliament has taken action against accidents like those of Remco Evenepoel
- Patrick Lefevere: ‘Giro d’Italia remains an option for Remco Evenepoel’
- Maxim Van Gils signs three-year contract, but with which team?
- Ben Healy thinking of a role as a Grand Tour GC rider
- Ben O’Connor looking forward to 2025 with Jayco AlUla
Team news:
- Ridley Racing Team expands around Joris Nieuwenhuis and Felipe Orts
- Sexual harassment in British women’s team despite warning
- Visma | Lease a Bike investigates their many crashes
- UAE Team Emirates commence pre-season training and announce riders & backroom team for 2025
- New Swedish Continental team Lucky Sport: Tour de France the ultimate goal
- Davide Toneatti moves to Astana Qazaqstan
Race News:
- Giro d’Italia 2025 presentation only four months before the start
Coffee time!
TOP STORY: Tom Pidcock Moves to Q36.5 Pro Cycling
It has now been confirmed that Tom Pidcock will be racing for the Q36.5 Pro Cycling from 2025 and has signed a three-year contract. The Briton is leaving INEOS Grenadiers after four years, the transfer has been less than straight forward. According to <em>WielerFlits, Tom, his brother Joseph and trainer Kurt Bogaerts will also join the team.
Tom Pidcock still had a contract with INEOS Grenadiers until the end of 2027, but he was not at the team’s training camp in Denia, Spain, earlier this week. On Wednesday afternoon, INEOS Grenadiers announced in a press release that Pidcock would leave the team. On Friday morning, Tom Pidcock posted a farewell message on Instagram, in which he thanked the team. The message ended with the words ‘where one door closes, another opens’. The new door goes to Q36.5 Pro Cycling. The first team training camp is in January, in Calpe, Spain.
Pidcock spoke of the transfer via his new team. “This is not just a change of shirt: it is the start of something special,” said Pidcock. “The opportunity to work with a growing team is something that motivates me. I can’t wait to see what we will achieve together. I know the challenge we face to get where we want to be, but it is an adventure and I am looking forward to it.”
His 22-year-old brother Joseph Pidcock will also be joining him. He rode for Trinity Racing for the past two seasons and won a stage in the Ronde de d’Isard in 2024. Kurt Bogaerts completes the trio making the switch. The Belgian coach has been working with Tom Pidcock for some time and will remain connected to his rider.
Our PEZ ‘armchair analysis’ crew has these thoughts on the Pidcock transfer: “I knew he won Amstel. Ok, 2nd on Stage 9 of the Tour, 2nd at Emillia. Not much else to get excited about on ProCyclingStats. Five wins in four seasons is a bit bleak. Did head-to-head comparison with Mads Pedersen suggested by PCS…bad idea. Did not give INEOS much for their money.”
“I looked up Q36.5. Five wins for 2024, including two national champions (Ethiopia road, Spain ITT). Best place in WT race was 14th at Suisse. One-third of their riders are over 30. Team earned 3000 UCI points in 2024, while Pidcock got 1970 himself. Does not look very promising and Pidcock probably won’t be at any Grand Tours. Invitations for the Monuments?”
New team for Pidcock eventually:
UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup – Calbras, Sardegna 2024
Due to the heavy wind storm passing over Cabras Is Arutas (wind gusts to 70/80 km/h) and the rest of Sardegna, the decision has been taken to cancel the 3rd round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup. The local Organisation Committee Crazy Wheels, Flanders Classics, the municipality of Cabras, the UCI and the security services agreed on this decision as the safety of the riders, staff, volunteers and public could not be assured.
Moreover, taking into account the weather forecast for the next hours and the sunset at 17h00, no postponement of the two planned races (Women Elite and Men Elite) is possible.
Ensuring the safety of our athletes, fans, and all personnel remains our utmost priority as we make this necessary decision. We thank all stakeholders for their understanding and cooperation.
“It was thrilling to work on organising this major international event, which involved a very complex preparation process,” said Cabras Mayor Andrea Abis. “It was also important to collaborate with Crazy Wheels sports association, their incredible volunteers, and the professional cycling community. We canceled the race due to the strong winds affecting the circuit to safeguard the athletes’ safety. Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who worked tirelessly on this event. Rest assured, we are deeply committed to this project, which not only has great sporting significance but also embodies a philosophy of life and territorial promotion. The event is not canceled but postponed—we’ll see you next year.”
“We are deeply saddened by the cancellation,” said Luca Massa, President of Crazy Wheels. “After months of hard work by the organising committee and so much passion, we share the disappointment of everyone who was eagerly looking forward to this day. However, the safety of athletes and spectators remains our top priority. This is not the end of our journey: we’ll return next year stronger and more motivated, encouraged by the positive feedback from riders about the beauty of the course. We promise to deliver an even more extraordinary experience. Thank you for your support and understanding.”
The organisers invested significant resources into the preparation of the event, well before the last-minute cancellation. Tickets purchased for this year will be valid for the next edition of the event, already scheduled in Sardinia for 2025. However, those who wish to request a refund can do so by emailing info@ucicyclocrossworldcup-sardinia.com by December 10, 2024. The email must include a copy of the ticket and a valid form of identification. Refunds will be processed by June 30, 2025.
Pogačar on Riding Three Grand Tours: ’30 Teammates, they Deserve a Chance Too’
Tadej Pogačar was awarded the Vélo d’Or for best cyclist of the year on Friday evening and also took home the Eddy Merckx trophy for best Classics rider. At the awards evening, the sports newspaper and organiser l’Equipe asked the Slovenian World champion a few questions. Among other things, they were asked about riding three Grand Tours in one year.
With his double win in the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, Pogačar joined a fine list of riders, but winning all three Grand Tours in one year? No one has managed that yet. Does Pogačar ever dream of being the first ever? “No, I don’t really think about that. Riding three Grand Tours in one year is already something special, going for victories is even harder. Moreover, we have thirty riders in the team. They deserve a chance too, so I’ll just do two for now.”
Top riders like Joao Almeida, Juan Ayuso, Isaac Del Toro and Pablo Torres will be happy with the words of their UAE Team Emirates leader. During the last Tour de France, Pogačar, Almeida and Ayuso rode a grand tour together for the first time. Although the Portuguese rider settled into a domestique role with ease and finished fourth in the final classification, that seemed to be a more difficult for Ayuso who had to abandon due to illness.
No three GT’s in a season for tadej:
Tom Boonen Gives Pogačar Paris-Roubaix Tips
In addition to the Vélo d’or trophy, Tadej Pogačar also won the Eddy Merckx award for best Classics rider last Friday evening. The trophy was presented to the Slovenian World champion by Tom Boonen. After handing over the trophy, the Belgian was asked whether Pogačar would be able to win Paris-Roubaix. “100 percent,” was his answer.
Boonen has won the Hell of the North four times, who better to ask?. “I am 100 percent convinced that he can win it,” he replied. “He is one of the riders who can handle a bike well, he can do everything with a bike. And Paris-Roubaix is not too difficult. It is simply about riding fast over the cobblestones and taking the wind into account. But if he cannot win it, who can?”
What is the best tip he can give Pogačar? “Try to avoid the big stones as much as possible. Use the side of the road and everything will be fine!” Pogačar: “It’s easy for him, yes.”
The 26-year-old rider has seven Monuments with several victories in Liège and Lombardy (two and four) and one victory in the Tour of Flanders, Pogačar makes no secret of the fact that he also wants to add Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix to his list of achievements one day. In Milan-Sanremo, he has been close. A third place behind Michael Matthews and Jasper Philipsen was his best result. Next season he will probably return to the long Monument.
When Pogačar will attempt Roubaix is the question?. Although he has said several times that he will ride one day, the cobbled sections pose few problems for the Slovenian lightweight, as he showed during the 2022 Tour de France where he put pressure on Jumbo-Visma.
Boonen can see Pogačar win Roubaix:
Wout van Aert to Ride Six Cross Races, But No Championships
Wout van Aert has finally announced his cyclocross program for this winter. It will be a very limited cross season for Van Aert as the Visma | Lease a Bike rider will only be seen six times.
The three-time World champion’s first race will be on December 23 in the Zilvermeercross in Mol. He then races in Loenhout, Gullegem and Dendermonde, after which he leaves for a training camp with his Visma | Lease a Bike team. “After that training camp, there are two more beautiful crosses on the calendar with Benidorm and Maasmechelen, in which I will be conditionally further,” says Van Aert in the team’s press release.
His program is more limited than other years and there are no championships on the program. “This winter we have opted for a compact program of six races that fit well into my training schedule. It will be a cross-country season in which I start out of pure love for the sport, but with modest ambitions,” Van Aert explained.
“After my crash in the Vuelta and the injury to my knee, it is essential to make the most of the time I have in preparation for the road season”, it sounds. “A few cross races fit well with that, but the program is deliberately more limited than in previous years.” His form level will also not be optimal yet, he expects. “The Zilvermeercross in Mol will be the first moment to work towards, but my highest level will certainly not have reached there yet.”
Remco Evenepoel Leaves Hospital and has Changed his Spring Plans
Remco Evenepoel has been discharged from the Herentals hospital after his training accident on Tuesday. The two-time Olympic champion underwent surgery on his collarbone and will be out of action for the near future with multiple bone fractures and injuries: broken rib, shoulder blade, hand, lungs bruises, a dislocated collarbone and torn ligaments. The rehabilitation is going to mess up his preparation for next season, he told VTM.
After leaving the hospital, Soudal Quick-Step’s leader gave a brief statement on his situation. Evenepoel also looked back on his crash last spring. “I suffer much more than after my fall in the Tour of the Basque Country. There are also more injuries. Especially on that dislocated collarbone, where all the surrounding joints were broken, they had some seriously ‘carpentry’. I will need more recovery time than then”, said Evenepoel to VTM Nieuws.
Evenepoel will not be able to think about training again until January. “December will be a long month, because I will be able to do almost nothing in it. Certainly not in terms of load on the shoulder, cycling is not going to work either. A new scan will then measure the damage and determine the further healing process. From then on, I hope to be able to start training on the trainer at ease and do some more intensive kinework. Step by step. But better this way than wanting to go too fast and undermine my healing”, said Evenepoel.
The fact that he had to undergo surgery ensures a longer rehabilitation. “Better now than in April, I’m getting used to that,” he said. “Because then it would have been difficult to make the Tour. It will be fine. I don’t have any other option either, huh. The situation is what it is. I can’t turn them around, unfortunately.”
This injury will have many consequences for his preparation for the 2025 season. “Normally, the intention was to start the new season in the first weekend of March, in the two one-day races in the French Ardèche. But that debut will of course have to be postponed. In terms of training, we will see what is still possible in March. Now it’s just waiting and see. I have to skip the team training camp in December and the one in January is also difficult to achieve. By then I will be at most rollering for a few hours and still have a lot of cinema work.”
A long rehabilitation for Evenepoel:
Oumi Evenepoel Shares Photos of Remco’s Accident
Tuesday was also a stressful day for Oumi Rayane, the wife of Remco Evenepoel. She rushed to where her husband had his training accident, when he hit the swinging door of a Bpost van and then went with her husband to the hospital.
She shared some images on Instagram. “Life is scary”, wrote Oumi with a video of Evenepoel being taken to the hospital. “You wake up and make plans for the day: train and work for school, eat at home and sleep in your own bed. But in a few seconds you have to cancel everything and eventually you sleep in the hospital. This is a sign not to take life for granted. Anything can change in a second.”
Even though she was next to Evenepoel’s hospital bed, Oumi still had to complete study work for her studies in applied economics. “A deadline is a deadline, I suppose,” she wrote. “University = no pity.”
European Parliament has Taken Action Against Accidents Like Those of Remco Evenepoel
Remco Evenepoel suffered serious injuries in a training crash on Tuesday when he hit a swinging door of a postal van. Such accidents are more common, but can be prevented with the so-called ‘Dutch reach’. The previous European Parliament took a measure against this earlier this year.
The ‘Dutch reach’ is a way for car drivers to open their door safely. The bottom line is that you open the door with the hand that is farthest from the door. That way you automatically look at the mirror and over your shoulder, before you pull the handle. In the Netherlands, where the steering wheel is on the left, you open the door with your right hand as a driver, but it is not a custom everywhere. It isn’t used in Belgium, where, according to Het Nieuwsblad, three hundred accidents are recorded annually due to opening car doors and there are probably many cases that are not noted because the police are not involved.
For that reason, the previous European Parliament approved a measure in February this year, after a proposal by the then European Commission. This measure makes it mandatory to check in driving tests whether the driver opens the door correctly. This does not mean that the rule is already in force in all Member States. They still have to look at the new rules themselves.
Patrick Lefevere: ‘Giro d’Italia remains an option for Remco Evenepoel’
After Remco Evenepoel’s crash last week, the double Olympic champion will have to make adjustments to his spring program, but participation in the Giro d’Italia in May remains an option, Patrick Lefevere told La Dernière Heure.
Evenepoel will have to recover from a broken rib, shoulder blade, hand, bruised lungs, a dislocated collarbone and torn ligaments. Patrick Lefevere, Soudal Quick-Step team manager, does not yet know when his rider will be able to race again. “I don’t like to make predictions, because it will depend on the progress of his recovery,” he said.
Evenepoel said that he wanted to start his season in the French opening weekend at the beginning of March. However, those plans have now been taken off the table. “We have to draw up a new programme, starting from scratch”, confirmed Lefevere. “We mustn’t panic. After his terrible crash in Lombardy in August 2020, Remco resumed too early and we saw that that wasn’t a good idea. But he’s learned his lesson since then.”
Evenepoel might be present at the Soudal Quick-Step January camp, but in that case he will have an ‘individual programme’, said Lefevere. Participation in Paris-Nice (9-16 March) or Tirreno-Adriatico (10-16 March) will then be ‘very close’. “It also depends on where he wants to start again”, Lefevere explains. “But with guys like him, you never know.”
Evenepoel had already decided before his crash not to go to the Tour Down Under, despite great interest from the organisers. But for the rest, he had not yet made any choices about his program, said Lefevere. “For example, he had not yet decided whether he would do the Giro or not,” said the team manager, who explains that Evenepoel was still in discussions about this with coaches, trainers and DS’s. “That choice does not depend on the course.”
The crash doesn’t mean that a possible Giro start is out of the question. “Doing the Giro remains an option, yes, but I am not the one who will decide,” says Lefevere. Evenepoel himself has ‘the final say’ in this choice. “In any case, it is premature to talk about that now. Maybe he will have new medical examinations in a week and then we will have a clearer picture. One thing is certain, however: you can forget about Milan-Sanremo.” Lefevere said at the end of September, that Evenepoel was thinking about the Giro/Tour double in 2025. The rider had actually wanted to do that in 2024. “Remco wanted that, but his trainer changed those plans. But it is realistic for 2025. Pogačar has shown that it is possible to win both in a row. Anyone who knows Remco knows that he gets motivation from that.”
Giro for Evenepoel?
Maxim Van Gils Signs Three-Year Contract, But with Which Team?
Maxim Van Gils’ management have said that they will announced on Monday 9 December which team Van Gils will ride for. The winner of Eschborn-Frankfurt has already signed a three-year contract with a team.
According to A&J All Sports team, the management of the Flemish rider, Van Gils made his choice last week and signed a three-year contract. The other information about his choice, including the team in question, will be announced on Monday 9 December. It seems that Van Gils will be racing for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe from 2025. INEOS Grenadiers and Astana Qazaqstan also hoped to sign the Belgian. HLN previously reported that the Kazakh team had made a ‘new and financially stronger bid’.
It was previously announced that Van Gils and his previous team Lotto Dstny had cancelled their contract. Stéphane Heulot, CEO of Lotto Dstny, said: “It is a shame that we are now parting ways, but we have come to a mutual agreement with Maxim and his management A&J All Sports. I am happy that we can now close this matter. If this change makes him happier and helps him to continue to grow, we will not stand in his way. We will continue to look for young talent, that is one of the values of the team.”
Despite everything, Van Gils looks back on his period at Lotto Dstny with a good feeling. “Seven years is quite a long time. I have so many great memories of the team. I am very grateful that Lotto Dstny gave me the opportunity to become a professional as one of their U23 riders. It is thanks to this team and its sponsors that I was able to grow and take the steps towards the rider I am today. I will always look back on this period with a big smile, even if I ride in a different shirt next year. I will never forget my second family.”
Where is Van Gils going?
Ben Healy Thinking of a Role as a Grand Tour GC Rider
Ben Healy is thinking of starting a Grand Tour as an overall rider in the future. The Irish EF Education-EasyPost rider said in an interview with Cyclingnews. Healy is known as an attacking rider who can do well in the mountains, but after his debut in the Tour de France he is reconsidering.
According to Healy, he learned in his first Tour ‘that he could get involved’ in the biggest race in the world. “It made me think a bit about racing for a general classification. I think that if I had approached the first few weeks differently, I could also have been in a good position in the general classification to enter the third week”, he said.
“I think that’s something we should talk about this off season. I really want to do the same as this year”, said Healy with a view to 2025. “I hope to get some better results, take what I learned from this year and apply it to next year. But yes, if the courses of the Grand Tours are presented and I think there are opportunities there, then I think that is something I should definitely consider.”
Healy is 24 years old and has only been on the WorldTour for three years. “I think I learn so much more every race, every season and that it only makes me a better rider,” said the Irishman, who also learnt that he has to save his strength when he chases for race victories. “I did something every day and I had to pay for it in the third week. Maybe we should choose the stages more tactically. And UAE Emirates showed that they always go for victory when that opportunity is there. We must continue to take that into account.”
Ben Healy aiming for a Grand Tour:
Ben O’Connor Looking Forward to 2025 with Jayco AlUla
Ben O’Connor had a strong season in 2024 with a fourth place in the Giro d’Italia, a second place in the Vuelta and a second place in the World road championship in Zurich. After these successes, the Australian will move to the WorldTour team, Jayco AlUla in 2025. In conversation with CyclingNews, O’Connor and DS Matt White look ahead to the coming season.
Ben O’Connor rode five stage races in 2024: UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, Tour of the Alps, Giro and Vuelta. He never finished outside the top five in these stage races. “His consistency is something that really attracted us to him. Although I think he still hasn’t reached his full potential,” said White. “We’d seen flashes of brilliance up until this year, but this year he managed to have a really, really consistent year.”
O’Connor was the perfect candidate to replace Simon Yates in the Australian team. “We’d never had an Australian leader in the general classification before.” The team’s biggest success came in 2018 with Simon Yates, who won the Vuelta España. The chance to repeat the feat with an Australian leader? “That’s obviously attractive to us too.”
In addition to his consistent results, his racing style is also a plus according to White. “He doesn’t climb faster than Tadej or Jonas, most people in the world can’t do that. So instead of playing a conservative game of ‘follow, follow, follow’, he has a different tactic. He throws it out there, rides aggressively and looks for opportunities where a lot of other GC guys don’t, which is a fun way to race.”
O’Connor himself also sees this attacking style of racing as crucial to his success. “It’s an aspect of cycling that I can’t lose. I can’t lose that aggressiveness to chase victories or put myself in a risky situation.” The Australian now has stage wins in all the Grand Tours and a podium finish in one of the three. He also wants to complete that hat trick. “I have to win a WorldTour stage race, because I’ve missed that so far, and I just want to be on the podium of all the Grand Tours eventually,” he concluded.
Big plans for O’Connor:
Robert Gesink Still Winning
Robert Gesink is still a Visma | Lease a Bike rider until December 31, but decided to put an end to his long professional career after the Vuelta a España. However, the 38-year-old Dutchman can still ride a bike particularly fast, as he showed in the Karukinka Gravel Race.
Robert Gesink ended his cycling career after the Tour of Spain, but he hasn’t said goodbye to the bike yet and at the moment he is riding a four-day gravel race in Chile as a Visma | Lease a Bike rider. Jetse Bol and Dennis van Winden are also there.
The Karukinka Gravel Race takes place on the island of Tierra del Fuego, in the southernmost tip of Chile. The event runs from December 4 to 7 and is ‘the southernmost gravel race in the world’. Participants must race a total of 440 kilometres through the inhospitable Patagonia and climb more than 5500 altitude metres. Then after each stage the riders sleep in tents.
Gesink won stage 1. “It was time to win something again,” he wrote on Instagram. For his last professional win on the road, we have to go back to 2016: Gesink won the Queen stage 14 of the Vuelta a España on the Col de l’Aubisque.
Gesink still winning:
Ridley Racing Team Expands Around Joris Nieuwenhuis and Felipe Orts
The Ridley Racing Team is expanding. The off-road team, which started with three men and one female rider, will be supplemented by Nicole Frain in 2025. The 32-year-old Australian will compete in gravel races for the team next year, but it is also planned that she will ride cyclocross in the future.
In October, Ridley Racing Team presented their four riders: Felipe Orts, Joris Nieuwenhuis, Daan Soete and Lore Sas. But in conversation with WielerFlits, Ridley boss and founder Jochim Aerts said that the team wanted to grow. So that’s happening with the addition of Frain.
Frain has been racing as a professional on the road since 2021. She was Australian road champion in 2022, in the colours of Parkhotel Valkenburg and participated in the Tour de France Femmes that year. Last season she was the best in the opening stage of the Tour de Charente-Maritime Féminin, a national race in France. Frain also raced gravel in 2024. She finished second in the RADL GRVL, The Gralloch, the Gravel Grit ‘n Grind and the Houffa Gravel.
“The combination of Nicole’s talent and the know-how within our sporting staff can lead to a beautiful story”, said general manager Rik Verbrugghe in a press release. “We will guide her as best we can in every discipline. By letting Nicole switch between different fields, we hope she can grow as a rider in her entirety.”
Frain herself sees the Ridley Racing Team as a team that suits her. “The team’s ideas about cycling and the goals are very close to me,” the Australian said. “That’s why I was very excited when the team approached me. I like the philosophy behind the team, which wants to combine all disciplines. It is one of the first teams to approach the entire off-road event in this way. I myself didn’t really discover gravel until 2024. Since then, I want to take further steps here”, Frain continued. “So the interest of Ridley Racing Team came at the right time. I am looking forward to my debut in various ‘milestone events’ such as the Traka, Unbound and also the Rift seems to me a unique experience at a special location. Hopefully I can take another step after I often ran aground in the closest place of honour last year.”
There are no crosses on her program yet, but perhaps this will change in the future. “Cross riding is new to me and it is a very difficult discipline to learn. I still have a lot of work to do here, but I am surrounded by the best people around me and want to make the best of it! Logically, I’m really looking forward to these new challenges!”
According to Richard Groenendaal, the DS of the Ridley Racing Team, Frain has already shown that she has the ‘physical possibilities’ to deliver top performance. “We will fully guide her in the off-road story and steer her technique towards the gravel races. Cyclocross is of course in the team’s DNA, so we are also ready for her in this discipline. It’s nice that we now also have an absolute topper in the ranks among the women. Moreover, Nicole’s experience will also be a good mentor for Lore.”
Despite her background on the road, Frain’s focus in 2025 is on the off-road disciplines. “And in doing so, I can use the expertise of the sports cell within the team very well”, she says. “They can train me with my technique on the gravel and on the road. After all, it remains my intention to race a number of UCI races on the road so that I can build up my condition and have the speed in my legs.”
Frain starts the season in January in Australia. She will then ride the Australian road championships there and the RADL GRVL. The rest of her program is not yet known, but she is expected to debut in the Traka and Unbound. At the end of the year, the World Gravel Championships in Nice are on the menu.
Nicole Frain to join Ridley Racing Team:
Sexual Harassment in British Women’s Team Despite Warning
Riders from a now-defunct British cycling team have claimed they were sexually harassed by one of the owners, Cycling Weekly reports. The owner was involved with the women’s team despite police advice that he was not the right person to work with women. The man, who is not being named for legal reasons, had previously been investigated for sexual misconduct.
Police reportedly made it clear to British Cycling prior to the incident that the man in question, now in his 60s, posed as a safety risk to juniors and older women, leading to him being banned from working with young people. Despite the investigation, British Cycling did give the man the green light to be involved in setting up a women’s team.
Riders from the British team have spoken to Cycling Weekly about the sexual harassment they experienced, saying he offered massages inappropriately. He is also said to have made inappropriate comments about the weight of riders and had unsolicited physical contact with female riders after events. Male riders from a team the man was involved with say he regularly made derogatory comments about the bodies of female team members during races, which he dismissed as ‘humour’ when challenged. The owner’s behaviour made riders feel uncomfortable, given that the previous investigation into his behaviour was public knowledge.
British Cycling responded by saying it always takes allegations of inappropriate behaviour and recommendations from the police extremely seriously. “British Cycling takes allegations of abuse or inappropriate behaviour very seriously,” the spokesperson said. “Where a statutory agency is involved, such as the police or a designated local authority officer, we work closely with them to support any investigation and to seek guidance and direction. Where recommendations are made by a statutory body, we follow them.”
Another problem for British Cycling:
Visma | Lease a Bike Investigates their Many Crashes
For Visma | Lease a Bike, 2024 was a year of crashes. There were successes, but the season was mainly characterised by their many crashes and other setbacks. The Dutch team made a thorough evaluation. “We look critically at ourselves”, said team manager Arthur van Dongen in the podcast De Cross.
The best team in the world last year, Jumbo-Visma, won the three Grand Tours, which seemed like an impossible mission for the 2024 season, but with the full focus on the spring Monuments and a new goal in the Giro d’Italia of winning stages, the team wanted to be able to leave an impression in 2024. However, an accumulation of crashes overshadowed their victories. This was a reason for Visma | Lease a Bike to look in the mirror. “We look at ourselves critically. We had the evaluation days in October. We look with a number of people at why we were involved in a lot of crashes last season”, said Van Dongen.
“That is being investigated. And then we’ll see what we can do with it. But it is also so: if you race as a team in the front line, the risks are greater. When you see how Jonas Vingegaard manoeuvred through the Tour de France, he has encountered little. That was also partly due to the stage schedule, which was very difficult at the beginning. Unfortunately, the first week of next year’s Tour is… I’m afraid that riders will be eliminated for the standings due to crashes”, Van Dongen fears.
Michael Boogerd put his questions in October in his column for De Telegraaf, the many injuries that Visma | Lease a Bike riders suffered. The former cyclist speculated on the possible reasons for the bone fractures of especially the leaders who were absent for a long time, such as Wout van Aert and Dylan van Baarle.
“I absolutely don’t know what’s going on and I don’t want to shout weird things, but I think that at Visma | Lease a Bike many riders break something when they fall”, Boogerd said. “That can be bad luck, but sometimes it is also unnecessary. They check and know everything. However, are there dietary patterns that prevent the bone structure from being quite good anymore? Is that a point where they drop a stitch? Again, I don’t know what it is, but I think it’s pretty much when a rider breaks something two or three times a year.”
Too many Visma crashes:
UAE Team Emirates commence pre-season training and announce riders & backroom team for 2025
Team gathers in Spain from 9-20 December
With the 2025 season already fast approaching, UAE Team Emirates are pleased to announce the riders and technical staff who will work behind the scenes for the forthcoming campaign. The team is also excited to announce the 11 young riders who will make-up the Gen Z squad which will continue to race at a Continental level after an impressive debut season in 2024.
The team will continue to work under the management of Mauro Gianetti (CEO & Team Principal), Andrea Agostini (Chief Operating Officer) and Matxin Fernandez (Sporting Manager).
Speaking on the announcement Mauro Gianetti said “2024 was an exceptional year for us and the good atmosphere we have built plays a huge part in that. The unity within our team, including both riders and staff, is extremely important to us.
We prioritise bringing together both talented and kind individuals who are experts in their respective areas. We focus on building a strong group of top-tier professionals, and with this outstanding combination of riders and staff, we believe we are well-positioned to maintain our success in the future.”
Riders 2025
João Almeida (Portugal)
Igor Arrieta (Spain)
Juan Ayuso (Spain)
Filippo Baroncini (Italy)
Mikkel Bjerg (Denmark)
Jan Christen (Switzerland)
Alessandro Covi (Italy)
Isaac Del Toro (Mexico)
Felix Großschartner (Germany)
Rune Herregodts (Belgium)
Julius Johansen (Denmark)
Vegard Stake Laengen (Norway)
Rafał Majka (Poland)
Brandon McNulty (USA)
Juan Sebastián Molano (Colombia)
António Morgado (Portugal)
Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecuador)
Domen Novak (Slovenia)
Ivo Oliveira (Portugal)
Rui Oliveira (Portugal)
Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia)
Nils Politt (Germany)
Pavel Sivakov (France)
Marc Soler (Spain)
Pablo Torres (Spain)
Florian Vermeersch (Belgium)
Jay Vine (Australia)
Tim Wellens (Belgium)
Adam Yates (Great Britain)
Sports Directors
Fabio Baldato (Italy), Fabrizio Guidi (Italy), Andrej Hauptman (Slovenia),Tomas Gil (Venezuela), Marco Marcato (Italy), Marco Marzano (Italy), Manuele Mori (Italy), Simone Pedrazzini (Switzerland).
Jan Polanc (Slovenia/Gen Z), Yousif Mirza (UAE/Gen Z).
Medical Staff
Raaghib Fredericks (South Africa), David Ogg (South Africa), Federico Paoletti (Italy), Adriano Rotunno (South Africa), Maurizio Piombo (Italy), Jason Suter (South Africa), Filipe Quintas de Lima (Portugal), Iolanda Lopez Ramirez (Spain/Gen Z).
Training & Performance Staff
Didac Navarro (Spain), Kevin Poulton (Australia), Iñigo San Millan (Spain), Javier Sola (Spain), Jeroen Swart (South Africa), David Herrero Llorente (Spain), Gorka Prieto Bellver (Spain), Giacomo Notari (Italy/Gen Z)
Gen Z Riders
Mohammad Almutaiwei (UAE)
Ugo Fabries (France)
Marcos Freire (Spain)
Luca Giaimi (Italy)
Abdulla Jasim (UAE)
Duarte Marivoet (Belgium)
Adria Pericas (Spain)
Anze Ravbar (Slovenia)
Enea Sambinello (Italy)
Gibbe Staes (Belgium)
Davide Stella (Italy)
UAE training in Spain:
New Swedish Continental team Lucky Sport Cycling Team: Tour de France the Ultimate Goal
A new Continental team wants to lift the latest generation of Swedish cyclists back to the highest level. Lucky Sport Cycling Team is aiming for nothing less than participation in the Tour de France in the future.
Building a fully professional team and competing in the biggest cycling race in the world: an ambitious goal. For Oskar Ekman it is above all a dream come true. The former employee of Swedish banks such as Erik Penser Bank and Carnegie is making the switch to cycling out of passion for the sport. He is also the chairman of the Stockholm Cycling Federation.
In an interview with the Swedish Sport Bladet, he stated that he could not sleep for two weeks prior to the announcement. “This is what I dream of. I know a lot of people, and they always ask the question: ‘Why are you doing something else?’ I probably have ten more years of this level of energy in my working life and I want to do this for the next ten years.”
Eleven riders have joined the new team. Among them Amir Ansari, who competed in the refugee team of the Olympic Games, and the Swede Edvin Lovidius, who has been able to prove himself as an stageiere with EF Education-EasyPost since August. “I feel that this project is real, something that everyone is passionate about. It also feels safer, coming home to Sweden after the years abroad. I get to compete internationally and can combine that with my life outside of it,” says Lovidius.
The Finn Axel Källberg, who was part of the development team of dsm-firmenich PostNL in the Netherlands, has also been given a place in the Lucky Sport Cycling Team. “It sounds like an interesting project. We get a good and strong team that can compete internationally. I want to reach the level of the WorldTour. I have a few personal sponsors, so I try to make ends meet with that. It’s not always easy, but it helps me a lot and it’s hard to do anything else when you’re on the road so much.” The team will start in the European Tour. Within a period of five years, the formation wants to have proven itself as a serious competitor in international competitions. However, the end goal remains clear: participation in the Tour de France.
New team on the Swedish block:
Davide Toneatti moves to Astana Qazaqstan
The 23-year-old Italian rider Davide Toneatti, who has competed with the Astana Qazaqstan Development Team for the past three seasons (2022–2024), is set to make his WorldTour debut with Astana Qazaqstan Team, signing a two-year contract for 2025 and 2026.
“I’m thrilled to sign my first pro contract and step up to the WorldTour with Astana Qazaqstan Team. The trust and support I’ve felt over the past three years in the Development team have been key. I’ve gained valuable experience, and this new challenge motivates me to work harder and achieve my full potential”, said Davide Toneatti.
“Over three years, we’ve seen Davide grow steadily as a rider, showing dedication in training and races. This season, he competed in several races with our WorldTeam without a single withdrawal, delivering a victory and podiums for the Development team. The timing of this move is perfect for his progression, and I’m delighted he’s joining our main team”, said Alexandr Vinokurov, General Manager of Astana Qazaqstan Team.
Davide Toneatti to Astana Qazaqstan:
Giro d’Italia 2025 Presentation Only Four Months Before the Start
The route of the Giro d’Italia 2025 will be presented just under four months before the start. Race organiser, RCS, has postponed the route presentation to Monday, January 13 and the Italian Grand Tour starts on May 9. The corsa rosa should have been presented on November 12.
The presentation of the 21 stages of the Tour of Italy will be on Monday 13 January at 6 pm. That will take place in the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone in Rome. On the same day, the complete course of the Giro d’Italia Women will also be presented. That women’s Giro starts on July 6.
RCS cannot provide more details about the presentation. Since the end of October, there has been uncertainty about the Giro route. First, Italian media spoke of problems with the planned start in Albania and there was also possible financial problems. The location of the Grande Partenza would be clarified by RCS before January 13. Reportedly, Albania is still in pole position to host the first days, but Sicily would be in the picture as an alternative if no agreement is reached with Albania, which is made by the Ionian and Adriatic Seas of Italy. The teams will be told about the course earlier, so they can plan their race.
We should know the Giro’25 route in January:
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