The complicated puzzle for EF Education to find the new Ben Healy: "Not as clear-cut as you might think"

The Dutchman stopped racing after 2022 and moved straight into a role as a sports director with the American outfit. Alongside team boss Jonathan Vaughters, he is heavily involved in recruitment. During their time at the helm, big names such as Richard Carapaz and Kasper Asgreen have joined the team — but so have lesser-known “gems”. Langeveld also plays a role in EF’s broader talent pathways, including riders coming from cyclo-cross.

EF’s focus is increasingly on youth, with a dedicated development set-up feeding into the WorldTour squad. But how do you identify the right young riders before everyone else does? Speaking to Daniel Benson, Vaughters explained why raw numbers can be misleading. “It’s not always as clear-cut as you might think because you might have a kid who has incredible test scores, incredible power numbers, and their TrainingPeaks looks unbelievable, and ultimately, they just lack a certain number of racing skills and can never make good on that.”

“On the other side is someone who doesn’t have particularly impressive numbers, and yet they manage to produce great results on the road. Then there are guys who produce great results on the road in the U23 ranks but don’t have much room for improvement or upside. All of those things are really hard to put together.”

And the evaluation goes far beyond performance data. Vaughters says there are factors many people overlook — especially a rider’s support network and whether those closest to them can handle the lifestyle. “What’s their family life like? It’s unbelievable how much influence the partners, wives and family of riders have, in positive and negative aspect… Will their partner, husband or wife, be ready to live like a monk for ten years? An athlete’s life is selfish, it’s difficult to deal with.”

All of that turns scouting into a maze. To find “diamonds”, EF’s decision-makers have to dig deeper than most — right down into the sport’s forgotten corners. “Sebastian and I have to look at every single race result, from the biggest races right down to the most obscure junior races or local little circuits. We try and find YouTube footage of these crazy little races that gives you an insight into a rider.”

Those images matter because a result alone rarely tells the full story. How a rider wins — and what kind of racing intelligence they show — can determine whether success will translate at the highest level. “It’s just as important how you won as if you won. Because if you go and win in the U23s just by being super clever and purely through cunning moves, that won’t translate well to the pros. You need horsepower.”

EF’s development team, EF Education–Aevolo, has not yet produced the sort of “superstar” the organisation dreams of — but more riders are making the step up to the WorldTour squad. The team is placing high expectations on sprinter Noah Hobbs, while Markel Beloki is seen as another major prospect for the future. With talents like that, the direction is clear.

The objective is not simply to survive, but to aim as high as possible — and, crucially, to unearth riders who can make a genuine impact at the top level. “We’re trying to find riders who can do something big in the sport, and we’re not trying to be mathematically sure that we’re consistently scoring results in second-tier races. What’s important for our sponsors is that we find a top talent like Ben Healy who can perform at the highest level.”