Teams & Riders EF Pro Cycling

[Escarabajo]

I'm not super optimistic about Chaves. EF have never had much success with riders who were brought from other teams after they were more than 30 years old.

Uran? we thought he was finished.

 

[Oldermanish]

I am confident Chaves will win one or two WT races in 2022, especially in a GT - He's happy in himself and his weight is in check - He needs to be used as a stage hunter in GT's BUT not at the TDF - He's stage hunted in the last 2 TDF's and has made one break in 42 stages - He's unsuited to the TDF parcours where there are long stretches before the climbing starts - He goes much better in the more rolling routes of the Giro and the Vuelta - Surprisingly, Bike Exchange never offered him a contract with the team focusing on developing their current roster.

Watching in his best times with Sky he was deeply dependent on a strong team to chase and keep him in the hunt. His best Dauphine' was a group effort and that course should have suited him. I can't recall any huge results since and it doesn't seem like he would be much of a GC teammate.

 

[Anderis]

Uran? we thought he was finished.

Uran had joined before he turned 30 and so did Clarke, Langeveld, Hesjedal and most of other riders who had some good performances at Slipstream at an older age.

Notable riders who joined Slipstream as mature riders were Modolo, Breschel, Keukeleire, Nuyens and Wegmann. They all performed poorely or average at best.

 

[Anderis]

Yesterday it occured to me again how much EF's roster is in the need of revitalisation.

GC relevant stage of Tour de Wallonie and the best EF rider finishes 50th. Then what't their provisional squad tor the upcoming Tour de Pologne? According to PCS:

van den Berg, Scully, Owen, El Fares, Beppu, Arroyave, Langeveld, Docker

(that's 8 riders btw)
Yeah, maybe Scully or Langeveld can ride a good ITT but other than that I struggle to see the team finishing any of the stages in the top15 really with these riders.

They just don't have enough good riders in the team to send a worthy squad to a lot of races. They're going there like for a trip and not to race for results.
Arroyave, Camargo, Owen, Whelan and Van den Berg have all failed to develop into riders of any strength.
Docker, Langeveld, Keukeleire and Van Garderen seem long past their prime.
And out of new signings Beppu, El Fares, Nakane and Will Barta none have really contributed to anything. Never really had expectations for the first three of them but Barta is a shadow of himself from last year.
Big changes needed.

 

[yaco]

Well half of the TOP team have struggled to reach double figure race days, so they have to race somewhere ! Van Garderen has retired and Docker retires at the end of the year.

 

[Pedro]

They just don't have enough good riders in the team to send a worthy squad to a lot of races. They're going there like for a trip and not to race for results.
Arroyave, Camargo, Owen, Whelan and Van den Berg have all failed to develop into riders of any strength.
Docker, Langeveld, Keukeleire and Van Garderen seem long past their prime.
And out of new signings Beppu, El Fares, Nakane and Will Barta none have really contributed to anything. Never really had expectations for the first three of them but Barta is a shadow of himself from last year.
Big changes needed.

He suffered a femur fracture in late December.

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[Anderis]

Any ideas/rumours about possible signings for 2022 apart from Chaves?

 

[Escarabajo]

Didier Merchan.

 

[Anderis]

Didier Merchan.

Is that your guess or actual rumour? What's the reasoning behind it?

 

[Escarabajo]

Is that your guess or actual rumour? What's the reasoning behind it?

I heard that in a podcast from a ESPN en Español reporter. Not sure if it will come true or not.
He comes from Colombia Tierra de Atletas feeder. I think is the same structure from the Colombia es Pasion team. Maybe they have inside information with respect to the talent of these riders. I personally was not amused by his Resume. Maybe they know better.

 

[Anderis]

I personally was not amused by his Resume. Maybe they know better.

I was not amused by Higuita's resume either when he was first linked with EF. Some riders just have a weird career trajectory. But yeah, that rumour doesn't make me excited.

 

[triley36]

Just read in the link below that Quickstep are targeting Bettiol. I know he extended with EF, but Martinez and Woods both had contracts when they left as well. I don’t know how EF continue at WT if Bettiol goes. Look at some of the rosters they are sending to stage races at present. No chance of a stage win, or a high placing overall in races like Wallonie. To be clear, I have no clue how credible the source is.

https://cyclingdigest.net/cycling-transfers-and-rumours-for-2022-season/

 

[Anderis]

Of all teams, I would've never suspected that Quickstep would be the one to try to get an EF rider out of the contract. Lefevere usually struggles to hang onto his own talent because the riders develop so quickly in his team.

If EF are going to keep bleeding their best riders like that, they may as well pack up and leave WT alltogether. Frustrating times for those who root for the team.

 

[Sciatic]

Of all teams, I would've never suspected that Quickstep would be the one to try to get an EF rider out of the contract. Lefevere usually struggles to hang onto his own talent because the riders develop so quickly in his team.

If EF are going to keep bleeding their best riders like that, they may as well pack up and leave WT alltogether. Frustrating times for those who root for the team.

Agreed. I was so sorry to see Uran drop form (or get sick or wear out) in the final week of the Tour. Would have enjoyed seeing EF on the podium—could be a long wait till we see another one (if ever).

 

[triley36]

Of all teams, I would've never suspected that Quickstep would be the one to try to get an EF rider out of the contract. Lefevere usually struggles to hang onto his own talent because the riders develop so quickly in his team.

This- plus the fact that when Bettiol left for BMC he had a horrible year and returned to EF where he’s enjoyed much success and support, are both things that give me hope that this rumor may come to nothing.

 

[Escarabajo]

Just read in the link below that Quickstep are targeting Bettiol. I know he extended with EF, but Martinez and Woods both had contracts when they left as well. I don’t know how EF continue at WT if Bettiol goes. Look at some of the rosters they are sending to stage races at present. No chance of a stage win, or a high placing overall in races like Wallonie. To be clear, I have no clue how credible the source is.

https://cyclingdigest.net/cycling-transfers-and-rumours-for-2022-season/

I don't think Bettiol is the face of the team. Or their best rider. Maybe best chance for a stage, but that doesn't mean that they should not be a WT team. Not sure what to make of that comment.

 

[triley36]

I don't think Bettiol is the face of the team. Or their best rider. Maybe best chance for a stage, but that doesn't mean that they should not be a WT team. Not sure what to make of that comment.

Look at their roster for Wallonie, their provisional start list for Poland, their results in the classics, the fact that they already ride a very limited race schedule. They have very limited resources (rider depth and budget). It’s not necessarily about losing any one rider. It is simply that they are letting good riders under contract go, and are not able to replace them with comparable talent. Again, I still think there is a very good chance that Bettiol stays put, but to lose another top level rider that they have under contract does not bode well for their future.

 

[Escarabajo]

Their issue is money I think. But there is nothing you can do about it.

 

[Anderis]

Of course their issue is money. But it's the thing that to have a worthy WT team, you need a certain amount of money. Nobody wants to see PCT level teams in WT.

If they were to lose Bettiol despite a valid contract, in the context of what's happened to other riders, their situation would be pretty unique even for a low budget team in a negative way. They're in a point they really need to bounce back instead of sinking even deeper.

I don't think Bettiol is the face of the team. Or their best rider.

In terms of potential for a big result, he is definetely top3 among Carthy and Uran (if Higuita leaves). And Uran is getting old. Atop of that, he is the only rider on the team to have won something really big so it would be a marketing blow to lose him.

 

[Lininho]

It's a rumor exposed by Beppe Conti lol. It souldn't be taken seriously

 

[slosada]

I heard that in a podcast from a ESPN en Español reporter. Not sure if it will come true or not.
He comes from Colombia Tierra de Atletas feeder. I think is the same structure from the Colombia es Pasion team. Maybe they have inside information with respect to the talent of these riders. I personally was not amused by his Resume. Maybe they know better.

Colombia Tierra de Atletas has nothing to do with Colombia es Pasión.
CTA is a merger of 3 teams in 2019: Coldeportes Zenu (DS: Carlos Mario Jaramillo, the Colombian useless DS), Strongman (DS: Luis Alfonso Cely) y GW-Shimano (JJ Gonzalez).
OTOH, Pedaleamos Colombia (Saldarriaga, Rios, Vélez) had Colombia es Pasión until Coldeportes gave the sponsorship to Corti to run the Team Colombia, then used 4-72 and Manzana

 

[Craigee]

EF has hamstrung the performance of their team by nearly only riding WT events - So many of their riders are under-utilized in a racing sense.

I think this point goes with J Vaughters lack of attracting top sponsors as well. Yes we all know the main targets are the GTs but at least if you get quite a few wins in minor races it must keep sponsors much happier. Most sponsors like to win races no matter the level. As they say A Win Is A Win. Not counting the media attention that comes with winning.

 

[Anderis]

There are a lot of hints in the cyclingnews article: https://www.cyclingnews.com/feature...ings-official-transfer-window-opens-august-1/

They said that EF have signed at least one rider fron Ineos but it's not written very clearly and they might imply it's more than one.
Then they mention Ineos riders who are out of contract: Leonardo Basso, Owain Doull, Sebastian Henao, Jhonathan Narvaez, Brandon Rivera, Ivan Sosa. And then Gianni Moscon separately. So it's likely at least one of them.
They also confirm Dan Martin will NOT come back to EF.

They also mention EF have signed riders from below WT but that's hardly surprising because it happens pretty much every year.

Cyclingnews are usually very well informed about EF.

 

[Potomac]

If somebody makes a Powless thread all I ask is that they not use the word "thread" in the name .

 

[Escarabajo]

There are a lot of hints in the cyclingnews article: https://www.cyclingnews.com/feature...ings-official-transfer-window-opens-august-1/

They said that EF have signed at least one rider fron Ineos but it's not written very clearly and they might imply it's more than one.
Then they mention Ineos riders who are out of contract: Leonardo Basso, Owain Doull, Sebastian Henao, Jhonathan Narvaez, Brandon Rivera, Ivan Sosa. And then Gianni Moscon separately. So it's likely at least one of them.
They also confirm Dan Martin will NOT come back to EF.

They also mention EF have signed riders from below WT but that's hardly surprising because it happens pretty much every year.

Cyclingnews are usually very well informed about EF.

Ivan Sosa is going to Bora. So it is not him. I would put my money on Jhonathan Narvaez. He is a good all rounder.