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Teams & Riders The Great Big Cycling Transfers, Extensions, and Rumours Thread

Page 35 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
It's not unheard of in professional sport that everyone involved is asked to keep the contract in secret until we have an official confirmation from a team. In some sports, like F1, it's pretty much the standard practice.

But why is the team waiting with the confirmation? Maybe it's just because I'm 99% convinced it is indeed ISN; Dowsett is the guy who gave them their first-ever GT stage win, so I'd imagine they'd like to keep him, and therefore I can't see a real need to wait.
 
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But why is the team waiting with the confirmation? Maybe it's just because I'm 99% convinced it is indeed ISN; Dowsett is the guy who gave them their first-ever GT stage win, so I'd imagine they'd like to keep him, and therefore I can't see a real need to wait.

Maybe it's with a team with a limited amount of openings and the team doesn't want to yet make public that the existing rider(s) will not be renewing?
 
Teams usually like to make their own announcements. It's not weird, maybe ISN is waiting to publish the final renewals, or the new team is waiting to make a statement with the final signings (i.e: Gazprom was publishing renewals of two of their riders each day a couple of weeks ago)
 
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But why is the team waiting with the confirmation? Maybe it's just because I'm 99% convinced it is indeed ISN; Dowsett is the guy who gave them their first-ever GT stage win, so I'd imagine they'd like to keep him, and therefore I can't see a real need to wait.
They might just wait for the moment they think is going to give them the best exposure in media or something like that.
 
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Yes i think so, that they renew Feng and Williams is funny.
Why is it funny? The team obviously feel that both riders are worth keeping. Feng possibly less so as he's not finished 50% of races he's competed in this year (although I assume he plays a support role in the team so must be a decent domestique in Bahrain's eyes).
Williams had a persistent injury in the first year of riding for the team (pretty much from the point he signed at the end of 2019). Then this season being much reduced has meant he hasn't really been able to show his true ability and certainly not the form he had at Ronde de l'Isard and Baby Giro in 2018.
 
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Surprising. He has been dire this year.
Not surprising. There was an announcement that EF would offer a contract extension to all current riders who had taken a pay cut earlier this year due to the coronavirus crisis.

I have a feeling that 2021 will be his last season as a pro cyclist, though. His level was abysmal this year and he doesn't strike me as someone who would bounce back from that.