EF Education-EasyPost under review: third time's the charm for the leader on duty?

Wednesday, 06 November 2024 at 18:51

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We have arrived at the second-to-last month of 2024, so we may quietly begin reflecting on the previous months. This is useful for a cycling team since all the races in 2024 have already been completed. IDLProCycling.com reviews the year of the American squad EF Education-EasyPost in this article!

One-day races 2024: EF Education-EasyPost

EF Education-EasyPost has not focused entirely on spring races in recent seasons, yet they performed well with riders such as Neilson Powless and Alberto Bettiol each time. The American missed the entire spring due to a lingering injury, so it was up to the ex-Ronde van Vlaanderen winner to fill the void.

He did that well, with a victory in Milan-Turin and fifth place in Milan-Sanremo as highlights. He also finished in the top ten in the Tour of Flanders. EF Education-EasyPost did not come into its own in the hilly classics, where it excelled last season with Ben Healy.

After delivering several national champions, Powless saved the fall by winning Gran Piemonte and the Japan Cup, ending the three-month drought after the Tour. The American also finished in the top ten in Clasica San Sebastian, the GP Quebec, and the Tour of Lombardy, ensuring he grabbed a few points despite his short season.

Read more below the photo!

(Grand) rounds 2024: EF Education-EasyPost

Richard Carapaz has been the man who should get on the Tour de France podium on behalf of Jonathan Vaughters' pink formation for two years, but bad luck got in the way this year as well. A crash in the Tour of Switzerland threw his podium ambitions into disarray, but Carapaz wouldn't be Carapaz if he could still put a good twist on it. The Ecuadorian was among the best climbers in the final week, winning a stage and claiming his much-desired polka dot jersey.

In the Vuelta a España, Carapaz later finished fourth, which is a reasonable base for 2025. Earlier in the year, Georg Steinhauser picked up another stage victory in the Giro on behalf of the team, meaning the overall rating of the all-important grand tours for the formation is generally positive. It also has to be said that the team always raced to win.

Bettiol and Marijn van den Berg were also victorious in smaller French stage races, while the team did not achieve much in the one-week WorldTour races. Carapaz's best final result was seventh place in the Tour de Romandie.

Read more below the photo!

Final grade 2024 EF Education-EasyPost

Overall, we rate EF Education-EasyPost a 6.8. Given the budget and riders, the team performed satisfactorily, but we hope more can be achieved in 2025.

Transfers 2024/2025 EF Education-EasyPost

During the season, EF Education-EasyPost said goodbye to a rider with the abrupt departure of Bettiol to the Astana Qazaqstan Team. A worthy replacement was brought in in the winter months with Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step). Furthermore, the team announced the arrival of all-rounders Alex Baudin (Decathlon AG2R), Samuele Battistella (Astana Qazaqstan Team), and Max Walker (training squad Astana Qazaqstan Team).

However, EF Education-EasyPost is not an overly eager team to announce transfers and contract extensions, so it has only 21 riders under contract for next season. Besides Bettiol, the departures of Simon Carr (Cofidis), Jonas Rutsch (Intermarché-Wanty), Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon AG2R), and Rigoberto Urán (quits) are official.

Ones to watch 2025 EF Education-EasyPost

Last season, EF Education-EasyPost made a slight change by attracting several young riders. It will be interesting to see how some riders can evolve next year. Take Lukas Nerurkar: the Brit finished fourth in Eschborn Frankfurt this year and has finished top ten several times in the Critérium du Dauphiné.

With Steinhauser, Archie Ryan, Healy, and Van den Berg, some guys on the team can make progress. The latter two rode their first Tour de France last season and may reap the benefits of that in the coming spring amid experienced leaders Carapaz, Powless, and Asgreen.

(Provisional) selection 2025 EF Education-EasyPost

Andrey Amador
Kasper Asgreen
Samuele Battistella
Alex Baudin
Markel Beloki
Richard Carapaz
Hugh Carthy
Ben Healy
Mikkel Honoré
Lukas Nerurkar
Neilson Powless
Sean Quinn
Darren Rafferty
Jack Rootkin-Gray
Archie Ryan
Georg Steinhauser
Harry Sweeny
Yuhi Todome
Marijn van den Berg
Jardi Christiaan van der Lee
Max Walker

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Hendrik Boermans

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