As Mark Cavendish bows out of pro cycling with a win in the Tour de France Prudential Singapore Criterium, we also have the video, results, reports and rider quotes from the X²O Badkamers Trofee Rapencross in Lokeren and the MVOI Internationale Cyclo-Cross Rucphen.
TOP STORY:
- Mark Cavendish wins his last professional race
Rider news:
- No De Ronde for Remco Evenepoel in 2025
- Jasper Philipsen: ‘I never call Mathieu van der Poel lead-out, I find that disrespectful’
- Thomas De Gendt might ride gravel with Ridley
- Fernando Gaviria to stay with Movistar
- Rui Costa in the peloton for another year
- dsm-firmenich’s Max Poole will ride the Giro in 2025
- Michael Valgren to stay with EF Education-EasyPost
- Annemiek van Vleuten working as a cycling team coach
- Israeli cycling pioneer Guy Sagiv ends career
- Laurens ten Dam to be Dutch elite women’s national coach
Team news:
- Jurgen Mettepenningen wants to continue with Ridley
- Soudal Quick-Step finish 3rd in UCI men’s WorldTour ranking
- Vincenzo Albanese races on to the EF Education-EasyPost roster
- XC MTB World champion Alan Hatherly joins Jayco AlUla
- Madis Mihkels joins EF Education-EasyPost
- Yamamay enters cycling alongside Team Polti Kometa
Race news:
- Vélo d’Or Launches Gino Mäder Award
- Six-day races no longer need to be six days
- Mortirolo Returns to women’s Giro d’Italia after nine years
- December 19th | La Vuelta 25: Route presentation
- Utrecht will not pay for a possible Giro start
- New UCI rule should make leader’s jerseys more visible
And the sad news of the death of Belgian junior, Miel Dekien.
TOP STORY: Mark Cavendish Retires from Professional Cycling
It is now known for sure, Mark Cavendish has decided to retire from professional cycling. In recent months, it was far from certain whether Cavendish would stop, especially as he was very secretive about his future. Now he has announced via social media that he has made that choice.
On Sunday, Cavendish rode his last race, the Singapore Criterium. At the end of October, Cavendish said, on the eve of another criterium, that he was not yet sure what his future will look like. “After a Tour, you always think as a rider: I will never do this again. But after a few days you miss it again, you miss the adrenaline. Will I return as a rider in the Tour? We will see,” said the record holding Tour stage winner.
“Sunday will be the last race of my professional cycling career,” Cavendish wrote on Instagram. “I am lucky that I have been doing what I love for almost 20 years and I can now say that I have achieved everything I can achieve on the bike. Cycling has given me so much and I love the sport.”
“I have always wanted to make a difference and now I am ready to see what the next chapter has in store for me. Thank you everyone for all the support, always,” concluded the 39-year-old Astana Qazaqstan rider.
Cavendish turned pro in 2006 with T-Mobile. After riding with HTC-Columbia, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step, Dimension Data and Astana Qazaqstan, he has 165 wins in his palmarès. 35 of those victories came in the Tour de France, making him the record holder. Cav also won stages in the Giro and the Vuelta, was World champion, won Milan-San Remo and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne twice.
As Many Expected, Mark Cavendish Took his Final Win in the Tour de France Prudential Singapore Criterium
After eighteen professional seasons and 165 victories, Mark Cavendish has now said goodbye to his cycling career. The 39-year-old Briton crossed the finish line as the winner in his last race, the Tour de France Prudential Criterium. Cavendish spoke emotionally after the race.
“It is quite emotional. In the last laps I realised: these are the last fifteen kilometres of my career. But I was so close to my limit. The heat here… I have not raced since the Tour de France and so I lack race rhythm and sharpness. But my teammates did a really great job. I was quite nervous about crashing, as I really wanted to finish my last race. I am so proud to finish my last race as a winner. I have always loved this sport, and especially the Tour de France. That is the biggest sporting event in the world. That is what children and adults dream of, to participate in.”
“Cycling also gives you a lot of freedom, it is a way to meet people and to express yourself. It has so much potential. I will do everything I can to help the sport continue. That will not stop, not even now that my cycling career has ended. I am very much looking forward to the future and new challenges.”
Last win for Cavendish:
X²O Badkamers Trofee – Rapencross Lokeren 2024
Thibau Nys won his first cyclocross race in the European champion’s jersey. In the X2O Badkamers Trophy round in Lokeren on Sunday, the leader of Baloise Trek Lions rode away from a group of favourites with three laps to go. Eli Iserbyt crashed and had mechanical problems soon after Nys attacked. The Belgian champion finished in 5th place, behind Niels Vandeputte and Jente Michels, both of the Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team. Nys’ teammate, Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) was 4th.
The new European cyclocross champion, Thibau Nys was on the start line in Lokeren and was also the favourite for this round of the X2O Badkamers Trophy cross. Eli Iserbyt, Lars van der Haar and Michael Vanthourenhout were also there for the battle.
The best start was from Van der Haar and Niels Vandeputte, but it was Iserbyt who took the initiative in the opening lap. He jumped away and Nys managed to grab his wheel, with Van der Haar and Vandeputte just behind. On the second lap, Baloise Trek Lions played the team game, Nys accelerated while Van der Haar caused a gap.
Iserbyt didn’t want to let that happen and chased the Euro champion with Vandeputte, Van der Haar and Laurens Sweeck sitting on him. The five stayed together for a long time. Michael Vanthourenhout was the only one who could make an attack on the fourth lap of the nine, although Gerben Kuypers and Jente Michels were not far behind. On the fifth lap, Iserbyt came through and split the leading group. Sweeck, Nys and Van der Haar could only just follow, but saw the Belgian champion drop back. After a crash, Iserbyt couldn’t change gears and lost a lot places and time. This was a big blow for the Belgian in the battle for the X2O Trophy series.
After Iserbyt’s incident, Sweeck create a gap in the sand, but it was Thibau Nys who followed him and passed Sweeck. The European champion immediately had a good lead with three laps to go. Nys extended his lead on a group with Michels and Vandeputte, who were being chased by Van der Haar and Sweeck. Not far behind, Iserbyt followed trying catching up. At the start of the final lap, Nys had a lead of 18 seconds on Vandeputte and Michels and 26 seconds on Van der Haar. All the others followed more than 30 seconds behind Nys. He eased off in the finale to enjoy the victory. Vandeputte was second and Michels third. Van der Haar and Iserbyt filled the top-5.
Race winner, Thibau Nys (Baloise Trek Lions): “This was great. In the second lap I got some space, but then I still had to get into it. It was wise not to push the throttle full on there, but to let myself slide along with the other men. Eli’s crash was the moment to open the throttle. Finally my technique and my legs got into rhythm. It came loose, and then I had to keep riding. It was a matter of sprinting full throttle up the climbs, and I had to not make any mistakes. It is a cross where you have to stay focused. I was only sure after the last descent. My back started to tire. It was beautiful. I enjoyed it from start to finish, but it was also exhausting. Every victory is important to me. Not because I ride in this jersey, but it always means a lot.”
2nd, Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team): “Eli Iserbyt was going for seconds in the X2O classification, but I was able to hold my own at the front and led for half a lap. After that, the leading group got a bit bigger. I made a mistake on a climb, which held up the rest. Thibau Nys and Laurens Sweeck got a gap because of that and I lost a few positions myself. That wasn’t an ideal situation, but I was able to move up later and get a podium place together with Jente. With one and a half laps to go, I took the lead and that’s how I was able to secure second place. Jente is even younger than me and still promising. It’s nice that I can get on the podium with him. I have a positive feeling. Yesterday I rode in Rucphen. I finished fourth there and I wasn’t satisfied, but I’m happy to bounce back and finish second here. Tomorrow will be my third race of the weekend. I want to continue the positive trend there and fight for the podium.”
3rd, Jente Michels (Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team): “This feels great. The EC title with the U23 was nice, but third among the elites is a step higher. I felt very strong and was able to move up every lap. I know the course well, because I often come here to train. I knew it was gruelling, so I wanted to have enough juice in my legs for a strong final. Fortunately, that was the case. That EC title was nice, but there are still many goals to come. I held on and focused on today.”
4th, Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions): “I didn’t feel fit enough to compete for the win, but it wasn’t bad. There were good opportunities to give Thibau something. I did that twice and the second time it meant the win for Thibau. We do it for each other. I wanted to help Thibau. He doesn’t ride the entire classification, so that didn’t matter either. I’m doing well myself, but I would have liked to be on the podium. Apart from that it was a good race: I’m doing well in the classification and I’m happy that I could play a role in Thibau’s victory.”
X²O Badkamers Trofee – Rapencross Result:
1.Thibau Nys (Bel) Baloise Trek Lions in 1:01:40
2. Niels Vandeputte (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team at 0:05
3. Jente Michels (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team at 0:07
4. Lars van der Haar (Ned) Baloise Trek Lions at 0:12
5. Eli Iserbyt (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal at 0:28
6. Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Crelan-Corendon at 0:32
7. Gerben Kuypers (Bel) Charles Liégeois Roastery CX at 0:42
8. Toon Aerts (Bel) Deschacht-Hens-FSP at 48
9. Anton Ferdinande (Bel) Team Shifting Gears at 1:06
10. Victor Van De Putte (Bel) Deschacht-Hens-FSP at 1:15.
Rapencross’24:
MVOI Internationale Cyclo-Cross Rucphen 2025
Felipe Orts (Ridley Racing Team) won the MVOI Cyclocross Rucphen on Saturday. The Spaniard, who was second in the European Championships in Pontevedra last week, won with a long solo ride. Ryan Kamp was second in his first cross in three weeks, ahead of Jens Adams.
The biggest names were missing in Rucphen, so Niels Vandeputte and Felipe Orts were the top favourites for the MVOI Cyclocross Rucphen. Their main competition was expected from Lander Loockx, Jens Adams, Mees Hendrikx and Ryan Kamp. Kamp was riding his first cross since the Superprestige Ruddervoorde on 20 October, where he crashed hard at the start. He mainly suffered back problems.
The cyclocross in Rucphen started very quickly. Orts hit the front at made a nice gap and then extended his lead. Kamp didn’t give up and went in pursuit. The Dutchman came close at the start of the final lap, but victory was the Spaniards. The 29-year-old rider of the Ridley team took his first victory of the season. Last week, the Spaniard was second at the European Championships in Spain, where he was beaten by Thibau Nys.
MVOI Internationale Cyclo-Cross Rucphen Result:
1. Felipe Orts Lloret (Spa) Ridley Racing Team in 58:36
2. Ryan Kamp (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team at 0:02
3. Jens Adams (Bel) Athletes for Hope at 0:06
4. Niels Vandeputte (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team at 0:07
5. Lander Loockx (Bel) TDT-Unibet at 0:19
6. Danny van Lierop (Ned) WILVO Group-TWC De Kempen at 0:42
7. Guus Van Den Eijnden (Ned) Cyclocross Reds at 0.50
8. Mees Hendrikx (Ned) Heizomat Radteam p/b Kloster Kitchen at 0:52
9. Cameron Mason (GB) Cyclocross Reds
10. Bailey Groenendaal (Ned) WILVO Group-TWC De Kempen at 1:04.
Rucphen’25 – Felipe Orts wins:
No De Ronde for Remco Evenepoel in 2025
Remco Evenepoel will not make his debut in the Tour of Flanders this year. The 24-year-old Belgian kept the door open for a long time, but he is now clear. “I will not be riding the Tour of Flanders next season,” he told Het Nieuwsblad.
Patrick Lefevere, the Soudal Quick-Step team boss, previously played with the idea of fielding his rider in Milan-Sanremo and the Tour of Flanders next year. “I think that Remco is ultimately a bit of a Flandrien. He sometimes trains on these roads. I am sure that he wants to ride the Tour one day,” he said in an interview with La Dernière Heure.
Evenepoel already tried to temper expectations about a Tour participation in August. “I do not intend to adjust my preparation for a Grand Tour for a Classic. I mainly want to set realistic goals. Men of the level of Mathieu van der Poel are still better than me in the Flemish Classics. Oh well, we’ll see. I’ll definitely be at the start, but next year? I don’t know yet.”
Evenepoel now knows his debut in ‘Vlaanderens Mooiste’ will not BE in 2025. A first participation in Milan-Sanremo has not yet been ruled out. “Milan-San Remo is still open as an option, depending on the choice for Tirreno-Adriatico or Paris-Nice. Actually, we haven’t talked about specific programs yet. We have talked about ideas and goals.”
Is Evenepoel is thinking about the Giro/Tour double next year? “Last year, the Giro-Tour combination was not possible if you wanted to be top at the Olympic Games. Now we can consider it, but we’ll wait and see what the course is like first. If I ride the Giro, I won’t ride Ardennes classics such as the Walloon Arrow and Amstel. I never skip Liège-Bastogne-Liège if I’m healthy,” he said.
No Flanders, but maybe Sanremo for Evenepoel:
Jasper Philipsen: ‘I Never Call Mathieu van der Poel Lead-Out, I Find that Disrespectful’
Jasper Philipsen is very happy with the role that Mathieu van der Poel sometimes plays in his sprint train. The 2023 world champion was Philipsen’s lead-out several times in the last Tour de France and finished him off three times in France. “But I never call Mathieu lead-out, I find that disrespectful in his case,” Philipsen told De Telegraaf.
“He likes to do it and is probably the best in the peloton,” the Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter thinks when it comes to the sprint lead-out men. “But he is so much more than that. In most of the races that Mathieu rides, he is our leader. The great thing about him is that when he sees little or no chance of winning, he likes to do something for the team.”
The collaboration between Van der Poel and Philipsen, who also won Milan-Sanremo last season thanks to Van der Poel, is good. “Mathieu makes it easier for me to win, but you have to be a good sprinter to be able to finish his preparatory work. It also puts a lot of pressure when a great champion like him sacrifices his own chances for me.”
In 2025, Van der Poel might not ride the Tour de France. He has already expressed his doubts about the Tour de France several times, although he has not yet responded to the . Philipsen does not know yet either. “There are possibilities for both of us, although I do not know whether Mathieu will be there. I would like to ride, but my program is not yet known. Whether I might ride the Giro? We still have to look at that option.”
Philipsen and Van der Poel – A good combination:
Thomas De Gendt Might Ride Gravel with Ridley
Thomas De Gendt has ended to his career as a professional cyclist, but there is a good chance that we will see him in action in 2025. The 38-year-old is in talks with the Ridley Racing Team, where Joris Nieuwenhuis is the leader in cyclocross and Rik Verbrugghe has recently become the sports manager.
Verbrugghe confirmed the news about De Gendt in Het Nieuwsblad. “It is true. The De Gendt dossier is on the table,” said the manager of the Ridley Racing Team. The brand new team is currently focusing mainly on off-road events, from cyclo-cross to mountain biking and gravel races. De Gendt would battle on the gravel in such races as Unbound.
At the end of September, in Paris-Chauny, De Gendt finished his career after many years with Lotto Dstny. “As always, the end of one thing is also the beginning of something new. I look forward to discovering new challenges,” he said after that race. Last year he hinted at competing in the Asian circuit, but now a gravel career with Ridley seems to be his future.
With Rik Verbrugghe at the helm, the Ridley Racing Team wants to focus mainly on off-road. “The goal is to be dominant in the off-road disciplines in 2025,” he told WielerFlits. “But the ambition is to go ProContinental ourselves to keep young talent in-house. We don’t know exactly what the future will look like. It’s not a year away, we’ve already given ourselves three years to realise that ambition.”
Thomas De Gendt to ride Ridley?
Fernando Gaviria to Stay with Movistar
Fernando Gaviria will ride for Movistar in 2025. The Colombian has extended his contract with the Spanish team by one year.
Gaviria has been riding for Movistar since 2023. He has taken three victories in the past two seasons. In his debut year with Movistar, he won a stage in both the Vuelta a San Juan and the Tour de Romandie, this year he won the opening stage of the Tour Colombia. He also sprinted to a second and third place in the Tour de France.
Gaviria’s total number of professional victories now stands at 52. The sprinter, who previously rode for UAE Team Emirates and Quick-Step, has won two stages in the Tour de France and five stages in the Giro d’Italia. He also won the points jersey in 2017 Giro.
Another year for Gaviria:
Rui Costa in the Peloton for Another Year
Rui Costa will be in the peloton for anther year. The 38-year-old has signed a new contract with EF Education-EasyPost, the team he rode for this year. His management made the announcement on social media.
It was CORSO, Costa’s management, that announced that Costa will continue to race for the American team for another year. Costa joined EF in 2024 after a year with Intermarché-Wanty in 2023. Before that, the Portuguese rider was with UAE Team Emirates for six seasons. In 2024, Costa won one race. That was at the end of June, when the former world champion became Portuguese champion after a battle with Rui Oliveira. He also competed in the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España this year. He finished the Tour, but had to abandon the Vuelta after a crash on stage five.
Another year for Rui Costa:
dsm-firmenich’s Max Poole Will Ride the Giro in 2025
Max Poole already knows that he will ride the Giro d’Italia in 2025, even though the route of the Italian Grand Tour has not yet been announced.
The 21-year-old Poole is one of the top talents of Team dsm-firmenich PostNL. This year he won the Tour de Langkawi, came second in the Vuelta a Burgos and rode a strong debut Vuelta, in which he came third three times and second once. The British rider is in his place with the Dutch WorldTour team, he spoke to Rouleur. “The structure within the team is perfect for me. It ensures that you can focus on the most important thing and that is improving as a rider. I also see that the dsm approach does not work for everyone, but it helps me enormously.”
“I have a lot of faith in my team. “I want to improve every year and I am sure that the team will help me with that. The fact that I have improved so much in the last few years says enough for me,” he concluded.
Max Poole to ride the 2025 Giro:
Michael Valgren to continue with EF Education-EasyPost
EF Education-EasyPost is keeping some of its most experienced riders for next year. After the team announced that Rui Costa has extended his contract, it now appears that Michael Valgren will also remain with the team. The Dane’s management agency, Corso, made the announcement on social media.
Valgren has signed a new contract until the end of 2026. The 32-year-old rider joined Jonathan Vaughters’ team in 2021, but took a step back from the WorldTour to the continental development team EF Education-NIPPO after two seasons. Valgren had a bad crash in the French stage race La Route d’Occitanie in 2022, after which he had to undergo a very long period of rehabilitation.
The winner of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Amstel Gold Race, suffered a dislocated hip, broken pelvis and a knee injury in his crash and for a while it looked like his career was going to end. After a long rehabilitation, Valgren was allowed to race again, but the team had him race with the development team.
In 2024, Valgren returned to the WorldTeam. In the spring, he finished eighth in Dwars door Vlaanderen and in the Giro d’Italia he had three top ten finishes. In the fifth stage of the Giro, he came very close to victory from an early break, but lost to Benjamin Thomas in the sprint. In June, Valgren also finished fourth in the Danish road championship.
Michael Valgren to stay with EF Education-EasyPost:
Annemiek van Vleuten Working as a Cycling Team Coach
Annemiek van Vleuten will be working as a coach with a cycling team. The former World champion said last Friday that she has said ‘yes’ to a part-time job with a team. She didn’t say which team and what her exact role will be.
Van Vleuten was previously approached by the KNWU to become the new women’s national coach, after the departure of Loes Gunnewijk. “It was never an official request, but when I was asked, I already said no,” Van Vleuten told the NOS at the time. “It is a position that you can only do wrong. You can almost only lose.”
Van Vleuten has always been interested in a role as a coach. The Dutch ex-champion has now said she has an agreement with a team. “I will guide several riders there on a mental level and in setting goals.” She didn’t want to reveal which team. It is definitely a women’s team. Van Vleuten is also working on a book about her career.
Van Vleuten has a new job:
Israeli Guy Sagiv Ends Career
Guy Sagiv will not be in the professional peloton next year. The rider is ending his career at the age of 29. Sagiv was the first rider from Israel to successfully complete a Grand Tour and paved the way for other Israeli cyclists.
Sagiv has been riding for Israel-Premier Tech for the past ten seasons and was there when the team was founded in 2015. He has ridden 467 races and 274,000 racing kilometres in the past ten years. He started two Grand Tours (the Giro d’Italia twice) and in 2018 he was the first rider from Israel to complete a three-week stage race.
“I’m just not that interested in the pure numbers. What I will remember most is that I managed to break through the ceiling. Not only for myself, but for all Israelis with cycling dreams. I have shown that a dream can come true. So I am very proud of what I have achieved. Not only for that unforgettable Giro, but also for participating in other prestigious cycling races. I actually wanted to continue for at least one more season, but that turned out not to be possible. So I do have some unfinished business. I am young, but I can also look back on a great journey.”
Sagiv will remain involved with the team, as he will be part of the technical staff of Israel-Premier Tech from next season. “His departure affects me. Guy is a top professional. He is fully committed to the team and his teammates. He also acted as a mentor for the young Israeli riders,” said team boss Sylvan Adams about Sagiv. “He will also remain a mentor, but in his new role within our technical staff.”
Guy Sagiv retires:
Laurens ten Dam to be Elite Women’s National Coach
The KNWU has announced their new national coach for the elite women. Laurens ten Dam, the former cyclist will replace Loes Gunnewijk. Ten Dam will start working from 1 January 2025.
After a long cycling career with Rabobank, Belkin, Giant-Alpecin and Team Sunweb, he stopped racing in 2019. He then turned to gravel in the United States. and brought his passion for gravel with him to the Netherlands.
In order to take the step to the role of coach, Ten Dam successfully completed the Master in Coaching from the Johan Cruyff Institute. In his first season as national gravel coach, he delivered two world champions, Marianne Vos and Mathieu van der Poel, at the World championships in Leuven.
Ten Dam is now preparing for his new job: “During my work as national coach for gravel and especially during the World championships in Leuven, I noticed that I really missed performing at the highest top sport level. Working together with a group towards major events such as a European championship, World championship and of course the Olympic Games,” he said on the KNWU website.
“As an experienced expert, I am entering this adventure without prejudice and that is how I want to work with the athletes. They must be able to rely on me and I expect the same in return. I do not have to teach anyone how to ride a bike, they are all top cyclists. It is really about forging a team with a clear goal and mission. There is a lot of talent within Dutch women’s cycling, so I am convinced that we are going to have some very good years ahead of us.”
Technical director Wilbert Broekhuizen is looking forward to working with Ten Dam in his new position: “Laurens managed to convince us with his vision and drive to step into this role. With all his experience as a rider, but also with working in teams. Together with his driven personality, we have every confidence that he will take the right steps. He knows what is needed to create the conditions to go for the win at the highest level, and he does this in a pleasant way. We look forward to his progress and of course the first championships where we will compete for gold.”
Head of Dutch women’s cycling – Laurens ten Dam:
Jurgen Mettepenningen Wants to Continue with Ridley Bikes
Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal has been working with Ridley for more than ten years, but the bike brand recently set up its own cyclocross team. Does this have consequences for the long-standing collaboration? Jurgen Mettepenningen, the team boss of Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal, wants to continue with Ridley as a bicycle sponsor.
“That (referring to Ridley’s plans) surprised me a little bit,” Mettepenningen said in an interview with WielerFlits. “They had initially offered us Joris Nieuwenhuis themselves, but there was no financial room at the time. CEO Jochim Aerts then hired him himself in his own team, I can’t blame him. Joris loves gravel and mountain biking and is doing well there. It was a shock, but for us that doesn’t change anything with Ridley. We have to sit down at the table in the coming weeks to even extend the contract. We are friends enough to talk about the future.”
Ridley boss and founder Aerts had a similar message last month. “Jurgen was immediately concerned when he heard the news, of course. Rightly so, from his point of view. But I immediately said to him: Jurgen, we have been working together for more than ten years. And on the last contracts we actually only changed the date. I made two things clear. Point one: if he wants to continue with us, then we will again erase the date on the new contract and continue in this way. Secondly, I told him: ‘we have been very loyal to each other all these years. We will never fish in your pond on behalf of our team in terms of sponsors or staff or riders.’ That respect must of course be there.”
Will Pauwels Sauzen be on Ridley next year?
Soudal Quick-Step Finish 3rd in UCI Men’s WorldTour Ranking
Our squad continues its run as one of the world’s best teams
It has been confirmed that Soudal Quick-Step has finished third in the 2024 UCI World Tour Rankings, cementing our place as one of the best men’s cycling teams in the world, at the end of a season which saw our riders rack up a total of 34 wins in 16 different countries.
The UCI ranking is based on the results gained by World Tour squads at qualifying races, throughout the year. The season got underway at the Tour Down Under in January, where Julian Alaphilippe’s 6th place on the general classification kick-started our quest for ranking points, and the year was sprinkled with many captivating and memorable moments from there on.
The team’s first win of the year was as early as 25th January, when Paul Magnier took an impressive victory at Trofeo Ses Salines-Felanitx, a result that would kick-start an impressive season for the rookie, where he would win five races for our team. This made Magnier our third most successful rider of the season, behind Tim Merlier and Remco Evenepoel, who would take 16 and 9 individual wins respectively.
Our hunt to cement our place continued right up until the final event of the season, the Japan Cup, where Ilan Van Wilder’s runner-up in the race secured our team’s third place in the final UCI World Tour standings.
Speaking of the achievement, Soudal Quick-Step CEO Patrick Lefevere said: “We are very proud of our 3rd place finish in the UCI World Tour Rankings. Over many years we have strived to build a squad that is consistent throughout the whole cycling season, which takes a very strong team effort from everyone in the organisation, and their hard work is shown by our place in the final classification. We have also shown that we have not just finished high in the rankings just once, but consistently throughout many years, which is not easy to do over a long period of time, and for that I congratulate everyone.”
Soudal Quick-Step 3rd in the WorldTour:
Vincenzo Albanese Races on to the EF Education-EasyPost Roster
Italian all-rounder’s first focus is the classics
Vincenzo Albanese will join EF Education-EasyPost in 2025.
The Italian powerhouse is excited to step up his game and top the solid list of results he has earned during his first eight years as a pro with some big wins in EF pink.
“I’m very happy to become a part of this team,” Vincenzo says. “And I’m very, very motivated for next year. I will do my best.”
Vincenzo lives in the hills around Florence but is most at home when he is racing over the Belgian cobbles, rattling up bergs and sprinting into corners in the wind. He will be a strong asset during our spring classics campaign. This year, Vincenzo finished in the top ten at 19 races, including the E3 Saxo Classic, Binche-Chimay-Binche, and the Circuit Franco-Belge. Earlier in his career, he won the Trofeo Matteotti and a stage of the Tour du Limousin.
That victory fuelled his will to win.
“My best, most beautiful cycling moment so far came two years ago when I won at the Tour du Limousin in France,” Vincenzo says. “I attacked in the last kilometre and arrived alone with five or six seconds on the main group. I will never forget that last kilometre. I want to win more races.”
That has been Vincenzo’s goal ever since he was a child. He has been racing since he was six years old and can navigate a peloton like it is his second nature.
“I knew I wanted to become a pro from the age of 16, more or less,” he says. “One year, when I was under-23, I won seven races, including a stage at the Tour de l’Avenir and a professional race I did with the national team.”
That performance earned him his first contract and kick started his racing career. Vincenzo has since developed into a consummate professional. He is a consistent performer who is ready to work for his teammates across all terrain from the start to the end of the season. He has ridden the Giro d’Italia four times and, though he loves his national grand tour, now wants to bring his three-week racing strength to the Tour de France to help his new EF Education-EasyPost teammates and go for a stage win.
“My very big dream for next year is to ride the Tour,” Vincenzo says. “I have done the Giro, so the big goal this year is to make it to the Tour. I would love to do the Tour, win a race, and ride well at the classics.”
EF Pro Cycling founder and CEO Jonathan Vaughters is expecting big things from Vincenzo in the years ahead.
“Vincenzo Albanese is a very consistent racer who can earn results for us from the start to the end of the year,” Vaughters says. “He has the strength to make it into the finales of the big classics and mix it up in hard grand tour bunch sprints. Our younger riders are going to learn a ton from his racecraft. Vincenzo knows how to keep a cool head when it gets chaotic in the peloton and put down his power when it counts. We think he is knocking on the door of a big win.”
Going into 2025, Vincenzo is more motivated than ever. After an offseason spent at home in Tuscany, fishing for sea bass and red snapper off the island of Erba, enjoying some games of football with his mates, and touring the local vineyards with his girlfriend, he is already working hard to get in racing shape for the spring classics.
“For me, this will be the first time I will have the chance to race for a very big team,” Vincenzo says. “It will be a great experience, and I want to make the most of it. I am excited to join an American team and about our program and the trust that the team has put in me for the next year.”
Welcome to the team, Vincenzo. We can’t wait to see you race in pink.
Vincenzo Albanese to EF Education-EasyPost:
XC MTB World Champion Alan Hatherly joins Team Jayco AlUla on the road
After storming to an incredible victory at the Mountain Bike Cross Country World Championships in September, along with being crowned the Overall 2024 Cross Country World Cup winner, Alan Hatherly is hot property and Team Jayco AlUla is thrilled to announce that the South African has signed a two-year contract with the squad.
The 28-year-old is looking to turn his attention to the road and is set to combine both MTB and road racing in 2025, a transition that only a few riders have successful been able to achieve.
The newly crowned MTB World Champion has enjoyed a standout season off-road having also picked up a bronze medal at the Olympic Games, becoming the first African and non-European rider to do so in the discipline.
Having spent his career focusing predominantly on MTB, Hatherly clearly has a big engine and GreenEDGE Cycling is delighted to have the opportunity to recruit the talented rider, and is intrigued to see what he can achieve on the road at the highest level within a professional WorldTeam environment.
In addition to his impressive list of palmarès on the mountain bike, Hatherly has previously had a taste of road racing and can count second place in the South African time trial championships amongst his victories in national level races.
With leading bike manufacture Giant, the official bike supplier of the men’s and women’s WorldTour squads, Hatherly will transition over to Giant Factory Racing for his off-road commitments in 2025, wearing the iconic world championship rainbow jersey.
Alan Hatherly: “I am incredibly excited for this new chapter in my cycling career and very grateful for the opportunity to ride for GreenEDGE Cycling for the next two seasons. I think now is the perfect moment for me to get out of the comfort zone and develop even further. Moving to a WorldTour road team is of course something totally new for me, it will be a steep learning curve, and I will be learning from the best. Combining road and MTB is new and refreshing and I am really looking forward to where this journey can go!”
Brent Copeland – General Manager: “Alan has clearly had a breakthrough season in the MTB discipline, and it demonstrates that he has a lot more to give. We are thrilled to be able to work with such a talented rider and believe that our strong support network within the WorldTeam set up is something that Hatherly will greatly benefit from. He has a lot of talent and clearly a lot of potential and we believe he can go far on the road. Of course, Hatherly is the current MTB world champion and will continue to have a focus in this field, thanks to the support from Giant. We hope together we can achieve great things in MTB and on the road, he will certainly have a lot of experienced teammates and staff to learn from.”
Alan Hatherly
Nationality: South African
Age: 28
Joins GreenEDGE Cycling: 2025 & 2026
Key results:
MTB:
1st XCO World Championships (2024)
1st XCO Overall World Cup Series (2024)
Bronze Medal Olympic Games XCO (2024)
3rd XCC World Championships (2024)
1st Lets Gets XCO World Cup (2024)
1st Lets Gets XCC World Cup (2024)
1st Mont-Saint Anne XCO World Cup (2024)
1st Overall XCC World Cup (2022)
1st XCO World Championships U23 (2018)
Road:
1st Tour du Cap – General Classification (2024)
2nd South African Time Trial Championships (23, 24)
5th South African Road Race Championships (2023)
Alan Hatherly joins Jayco AlUla:
Madis Mihkels Joins EF Education-EasyPost
Estonian bolsters team’s classics squad
Madis Mihkels will race in pink from the start of the 2025 season.
Fresh off his podium finish at the European championships and appearance at his first Olympics, the 21-year-old from Estonia wants to turn the promising results he earned in his first two years as a pro into big wins during the season ahead. He cannot wait to join his new EF Pro Cycling teammates.
“I am super happy with this move,” Madis says. “It is the right next step for me to make as a cyclist. EF Education-EasyPost looks like a team with a great environment and atmosphere between the riders and the staff. I’m really looking forward to next season.”
EF Pro Cycling founder and CEO Jonathan Vaughters is excited to have Madis on our squad. “Madis is a strong, promising rider,” Vaughters says. “With our team’s backing, we think we can help him become a real champion. It is going to be fun to see what he can do.”
Madis’s favourite races are the northern classics. He loves racing in the wind and muck in Belgium and France and flies over the cobblestones. This spring, he raced into the top-ten at Paris-Roubaix. He thrives at high speed, brushing elbows with his competitors on the roughest, smallest roads. But Madis’ ambitions will never stop after he’s rounded the last corner of the Roubaix velodrome. He wants to go for wins throughout the year. One-day races, stages in the biggest tours—he wants to cross their finish lines first. He has already won stages at the Deutschland Tour and the Tour of Estonia. He rode his first Giro this season. Now, he wants to step up his game.
“It’s not that I just have one race in mind,” Madis says. “I want to win next year. I just want to get into a winning mode. I love hard races. I’m never the fastest guy in pure, pure bunch sprints when everybody there is fresh. That’s why I love harder racing, where I can go for the sprint in the end.”
Madis honed his speed on the BMX track, where he raced until he was 15. He’s always been an athlete. He started competitive swimming at four years old and did all kinds of sports when he was a kid. He was pretty good at them all, but it was on a bike that he started to dream of being great.
“I rode my first races when I was eight,” Madis says. “I immediately started to win in the youth categories and discovered that I had talent. That gave me a lot of motivation. When I was young, I was a half-time BMX racer and half-time road rider. At a certain point, I had to decide which one I was going to focus on. I took part in some road races and cyclocross races, but was mostly focused on BMX until I was 15. BMX racing is super, super explosive. For sure, it helped me to become the rider that I am on the road, with all the racing for position, having to have no fear.”
Madis balances his need for speed and rough-and-tumble racing with a quiet life in Estonia. He was born and raised in Tartu and, despite his home country’s harsh winters, still opts to live there, though he has recently moved to Tallinn, the capital. He enjoys spinning out into the forests on his bike, passing lakes and rivers on quiet, smooth, nearly car-free roads. Before the thermometer dips too far below freezing and the snowplows come out, he can always escape somewhere warm. As soon as the ice is gone, he wants to go home, where he can fish for pike in fresh, clean water.
“For me, Estonia is such a good country, except for the winter,” Madis says. “It’s a really good place to train, maybe not for a climber, but for a rider like me. We don’t have big climbs, but we do have super good roads with no traffic. It’s all rolling hills and rivers and lakes.”
That’s where Madis will start to prepare for 2025, before meeting his teammates for the first time at our winter camp in Spain. The whole team is looking forward to welcoming him into our ranks.
The 2025 season is going to be even more exciting with Madis on our roster.
Madis Mihkels to EF Education-EasyPost:
Yamamay Enters Cycling Alongside Team Polti Kometa
The partnership between Yamamay and the world of sports continues: after successful collaborations with some of the most famous athletes and teams on the Italian and international scene, the underwear and swimwear brand now decides to bet on cycling by signing an agreement with Polti Kometa, the Professional team led by Ivan Basso and the Contador family. The brand will support the squad in races throughout 2025.
The team’s riders have been chosen as ambassadors to showcase the most iconic pieces of Yamamay’s YThermal line, launched last winter. This line of unisex thermal underwear was designed to provide comfort and protection during the colder months. Tailored to fit like a second skin, it’s ideal not only for sports but also for everyday and leisure use.
Gianluigi Cimmino, Yamamay’s CEO: “We’ve always had a strong connection to sports and our collections over the years have been represented by numerous sports ambassadors. Team Polti Kometa will wear our YThermal collection, ideal for those who enjoy outdoor sports even in winter. It’s always an honour for us to associate our name with teams and personalities like these, as athletes are positive examples of commitment, dedication and teamwork. Qualities and values that align with our values.”
Ivan Basso, Polti Kometa’s team principal: “I’m very happy and proud to start this journey, which goes beyond sponsorship. It’s a partnership in the truest and fullest sense, with a shared vision, a project, and product development that involves all parties in real synergy. We’re entering Yamamay’s sports universe to create mutual value, combining our passion and expertise with the Cimmino family’s impressive commitment to sports. I’m confident this agreement will take us far!”
Vélo d’Or Launches Gino Mäder Award
On Friday 6 December, the various Vélo d’Ors will be awarded. The best female and male cyclist of 2024 will be put in the spotlight, but this year there will also be a special prize: the Gino Mäder Award.
The Gino Mäder Award is a prize in honour of the social commitment of cyclists. Riders who are committed to social goals and initiatives are eligible for this prize. The organisation behind the Vélo d’Or wants to emphasise and stimulate social initiatives by inspiring role models, the impact of which should reach beyond the sport.
The prize is named after the late Gino Mäder, the Swiss cyclist who died on 16 June 2023 after a serious crash in the Tour de Suisse. Mäder’s career was not only characterised by his sporting achievements, he also committed himself to a better world. He was an advocate for a greener planet and inspired many people with his message. For example, after the 2021 Vuelta a España, he donated 4,529 euros to Justdiggit, a non-profit organisation that is committed to combating climate change by greening Africa. This organisation decided to regreen a special area in memory of Mäder.
The Gino Mäder Award is awarded by a jury of leading figures from the cycling world, people involved with the Vélo d’Or and Le Crédit Lyonnais (LCL).
Vélo d’Or remembers Gino Mäder:
Six-day Races No Longer Need to Last six days
Six-day races don’t have to last six days. A new UCI rule regarding six-day track races will come into effect on 1 January 2025, reported CyclingWeekly.
The Six-day races are an important part of track cycling. They are particularly popular in Belgium and the Netherlands, such as the legendary Gent Six-day and the Rotterdam Six-day. These races last six days, but this could change in the future.
Previously, the races had to take place on six consecutive days and the race had to last at least 24 hours. The new regulations, which were approved by the UCI at the end of September, state that the organisers are ‘free to determine the duration and programme’ of the six-day race.
6-Days don’t need to be six days:
Mortirolo Returns to Women’s Giro d’Italia after Nine Years
The Giro d’Italia Women’s route has yet to be officially announced, but one stage seems certain: Aprica will host the finish of one of the Giro stages in 2025. This means that the Mortirolo will return to the Women’s Giro d’Italia after nine years.
Aprica is a village near the Mortirolo pass. Usually, a finish in Aprica means that the Mortirolo has to be climbed. This happened in the 2022 Giro d’Italia and the 2020 U23 Giro. The last time the Mortirolo was in the route of the women’s Giro was in 2016. That time, Mara Abbott won the stage. Marianne Vos won a stage that went over this climb in 2011. The full details of the stage are not public knowledge yet, but Sondrio province president Davide Menegola told La Gazzetta Dello Sport. “But I think I can say with great certainty that Aprica will also be involved in the 2025 Giro d’Italia for women as a stage destination.”
Mortirolo in the 2025 Women’s Giro d’Italia?
December 19th | La Vuelta 25: Course Presentation
On December 19th at 7:00 PM, Unipublic will present the route of La Vuelta 25 at Palacio Municipal IFEMA Madrid (Avenida Capital de España, 7).
In a live streamed gala that will be broadcasted on RTVE, the organisation will be unveiling the host cities of the 21 stages of 2025’s edition, year that marks the 90th anniversary of the race. La Vuelta 25 will take place from August 23rd to September 14th.
Utrecht Will Not Pay for a Possible Giro Start
There are plans to bring the Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia 2029 to Utrecht, but the municipality will not contribute. Alderman Eva Oosters (Culture, Events and Sports) confirmed this during a council meeting. The required budget will have to come from other parties.
The city has previously organised the starts of the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. Utrecht could become the first city in the world to have organised the start of all major tours if it manages to host the Giro d’Italia. Giro organisation RCS has already indicated that it is open to this, Cor Jansen of Utrecht Marketing told WielerFlits at the end of October. Under the leadership of Luuc Eisenga, a broad base is now being worked on within Utrecht to host the Italian tour, ideally in 2029.
However, the initiators cannot expect any financial support from the municipality of Utrecht. In response to questions from the Party for the Animals, alderman Eva Oosters said during a council meeting that the municipality will not spend any money on the Giro. “We don’t have the money, so we’re not paying now,” she was clear.
It comes as no surprise that the municipality does not want to contribute financially to the Grande Partenza. In the interview with WielerFlits, Jansen already said that the municipality of Utrecht currently has no money available to contribute to the arrival of a multi-day event like the Giro. But that is no reason to break off the initiative.
“At this stage, we are sitting around the table with many parties. We indicate that we do not need money from the municipality in advance, but we do need cooperation. If you make that move, you will create a base where there is hunger in the city and the region for such an event,” he said.
Parties such as the Royal Jaarbeurs Utrecht, the Science Park, the University of Utrecht, hotel chains and insurance company a.s.r. have already indicated that they find this Giro project interesting. “And then you look at how municipalities and provinces can contribute to this,” said Jansen.
No Giro in Utrecht in 2029?
New UCI Rule Should Make Leader’s Jerseys More Visible
Next year, it will be easier to distinguish the leader’s jerseys in the peloton in the Grand Tours. This summer, the UCI changed the rules regarding cycling jerseys in Grand Tours, meaning that teams are no longer allowed to start in kit that resemble one of the leader’s jerseys in Grand Tours and ‘selected Women’s WorldTour races’.
This has been a regular problem in recent years. For example, the white jersey in the Giro d’Italia was not always easy to distinguish, because several WorldTour teams had white shades in their clothing or even completely white jerseys. This should be prevented with the new regulations. To prevent confusion, Grand Tours must announce at least six months in advance what their leader’s jerseys will look like.
The rule also applies to certain races in the Women’s World Tour. It is likely that this also concerns the Vuelta a España, Giro d’Italia and Tour de France. These races are not designated as a Grand Tour by the UCI in women’s cycling. The UCI also mentions the purple leader’s jersey of the WorldTour classification. SD-Worx ProTime and other team, rode in purple last year, which means that this WorldTour team will have to look for a new colour for its kit in 2025.
SD Worx might have to change their colours:
Belgian Junior Miel Dekien Dies after Tragic Traffic Accident
Eighteen year-old Belgian cyclist Miel Dekien was involved in a traffic accident and died from his injuries. His team, Ostend Air College, announced the sad news on social media. “With great sadness and incomprehension we report the passing of our rider Miel Dekien (2006-2024) as a result of a tragic traffic accident. You will always remain in our hearts Miel, we will never forget you and are grateful for the many beautiful moments together, you were and remain a fantastic guy to us. Deepest condolences to parents, family, friends and everyone who was dear to Miel. Words fail us… wherever you are now, all the best.” Dekien raced on the road, cyclocross and mountain bike. This road season he finished thirteenth in Gent-Wevelgem for juniors.
Rest in peace young rider – Miel Dekien
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