Hagens Berman Axeon

António Morgado

Jan Christen

Darren Rafferty

Emil Herzog

Gonçalo Tavares

Artem Shmidt

Kasper Andersen

Cooper Johnson

Maxence Place

Jack Drage

Nino de Jong

Michael Garrison

Racing

Interviews

Instagram selfies and WorldTour vultures – Mike Creed on the challenges facing the US youth scene

Scott McGill came through Mike Creed's Aevolo Cycling team

Go back a decade and the US racing scene was thriving. The Tour of California was at its peak, while the Tours of Utah, Alberta, and Missouri ensured that domestic male athletes had a decent enough calendar to build a season. There were several second-division teams with ambitions of 

 status, and the pathways for emerging US talent were plentiful.

Fast forward to 2023 and the outlook is very different. All of those major races have disappeared, along with the teams that raced them, and while gravel racing is booming and USA Cycling is fighting back with some strong junior programmes, the criterium scene is as fragmented as ever and the stage racing opportunities are nowhere to be seen. If you’re a U23 or junior American with a dream of racing at the highest level in Europe, your chances of making it are slim.

Matteo Jorgenson and the blessings of a lifetime of near-misses

Despite the impoverished situation, there is still a small but dedicated group who believe in reviving the domestic scene. Mike Creed is a former racer who made it to Europe at the tender age of 19 and raced alongside the likes of Lance Amstrong and George Hincapie at US Postal. His career ended on US soil and since 2017 he has run the U23 Aevolo Cycling squad out of Colorado Springs.

It’s a modest operation, with two full-time staff, a couple of loyal and dedicated crew, including Creed’s partner Caitlin Laroche Creed, and a private backer based on the East Coast. The team may not attract the fanfare that a squad like 

 does, but it has nevertheless provided chances to a number of promising young riders who have slipped through the cracks or not drawn instant attention from the WorldTour teams. 

In 2023, the team raced over 50 days in Europe, and in 2024 the squad will once again make the trip across the Atlantic for a heavy but rewarding programme.

“We’ve not done a huge amount of recruiting for next year because I wanted to give the guys on the team a full cycle of U23 space before they age out or sign for bigger teams,” Creed tells 

“If we were more professional in some ways, maybe I’d be a bit harsher with some of the guys but we’re a U23 team that doesn’t pay huge salaries, and I wanted to stay loyal to the guys. We’ve brought in three new riders, we’ve lost two, and we’ll probably pick up one or two more guest riders during the year.”

Ian Lopez de San Roman, a guest rider from this year with a gravel background, will return. Gavin Hlady, who was third on the final day of Redlands, will once again wear the iconic green and yellow kit, while a kid from Southern California named Alfredo Bueno has also joined the ranks.

“He’s mainly been racing crits but he’s 18 and he’s super ambitious. He more or less talked himself onto the team,” Creed says with a hint of admiration.

“We give offers to kids who aren’t in the spotlight right away – those who may be focused more on school or who just haven’t developed physically. Maybe they just really want it and that stands out for me. I want all our guys to fulfil their promise.”

It’s a battle that has become increasingly difficult in recent years. Aevolo has a Club status, which means they are lower on the pecking order when it comes to attracting talent. That’s not such a problem, given their remit is to pick up diamonds in the rough, but the challenges are becoming more stark as more and more WorldTour teams become increasingly determined and speculative with their youth recruitment policy. Back in 2017, Creed could have a relatively early trip to the talent supermarket, but, by the time he arrives at the store now, the shelves are almost empty.

“Our battles used to be with Axeon and you knew that because of their name and their reputation, it was always hard for us. But now with all the WorldTour devo teams, we’re being pushed further back down the line,” he says. “The competition for the U23 riders is becoming harder and harder because the bar is getting higher and higher. What we’re seeing now is teams in Europe taking long-shots on kids who have raced for one or two years

“It’s super cool that, from our perspective, we had a kid who is now on the U23 devo team for UAE but the only caveat is that you hope the teams reach out to directors to ask if the riders have the experience both physically and mentally or if the rider needs another year on a domestic programme.

“When you have Ineos, UAE, Jumbo and Bahrain doing speculative buying of juniors in order to stop them from signing with other teams, it changes everything. So initially, for next year, there was a rider who was going to another U23 team but was going to be paid by Ineos. Then the rider had an offer from another WorldTour team to go pro right away and Ineos had to match it. So they buy these kids on spec because it’s cheaper for them to give these kids $70,000 than to miss out on the new Remco Evenepoel. Buying him out of his contract will cost tens of millions so they instead buy half the junior field at $50K a piece. It’s wild.”

‘He’s a role model to all the young Americans’ - peloton compatriots react to Sepp Kuss’ Vuelta a España victory

If you’re not instantly snapped up by a WorldTour team or move to Europe on your own fruition and dime – and have reached your mid-20s – then the situation is almost dire, according to Creed.

recent demise of the Human Powered Health men’s squad

 represented the crumbling of the last bridge for US riders above the U23 level who still had ambitions of racing at the highest level in Europe. In recent years, UnitedHealthcare, Smartstop, Hincapie Racing, and Exergy have all vanished. Unless you’re willing to shop yourself as a low-key crit racer or reinvent yourself as a gravel privateer, your career as a rider is all but over.

“It’s pretty bleak,” Creed says. “I believe that if you’re 27 and don’t know what you want to do with your life but post enough selfies on Instagram, can hold a wheel on a four-corner crit, there’s probably a team that will loan you a bike, a pair of shorts and let you sleep on a stranger’s couch. Then you can tell your family you’re a professional athlete. It’s rough here though in the US.”

There are shoots of promise, however. Aevolo Cycling has proved, along with Axeon, that young riders can succeed even if they’re passed over in the first round. USA Cycling, to their credit, are also investing heavily in programmes that will benefit young riders both on the track and on the road.

Team Jayco AlUla and Hagens Berman Axeon likely to partner in 2024

If you’re a junior coming through the ranks now, there’s a much stronger chance that USA Cycling will be able to support you with a European race schedule.

“I know that USA Cycling are putting more money in juniors and creating a stronger national team, for both men and women. So if you’re a junior or first-year U23 the good news is that there are a lot of opportunities for you to go and race in Europe,” Creed says.

“It’s just that if you’re over the age of 26 or 27, the gravel market is already saturated with WorldTour dudes who don’t know what to do when they’re done. It means the crit market is the only one left for you.”

As for Aevolo Cycling, they’ll keep plugging away, too. There’s constant internal talk about moving into the Continental ranks but Club status allows the management to bring in guest riders, save cash on UCI fees, and still dovetail race calendars on both sides of the Atlantic.

Creed and his team will continue to scour the market and the domestic scene for fresh talent that hasn’t yet been identified, and even if that leads to just one or two success stories – such as 

, Scott McGill or, in the future, Alfredo Bueno – it will all have been worth it. 

“What makes us cool is the fact that we’re not cool at all,” Creed says. 

“I wish we were cool but the fact that we’re going into our seventh year and that we provide more race days in Europe than almost any American non-WorldTour team is really important. If you ask any of the riders who leave the team they’ll tell you that the level of service they experience is better than any team in America. And we do that with the smallest staff. So yeah, maybe we are cool.”

Jan Christen: UAE Team Emirates youngster sets sights on Monuments and Tour de France

Jan Christen joined UAE Team Emirates on a long-term deal in August 2023 

The last few seasons have seen pro cycling witness an undeniable sea change in how races have been won, and, to an extent, the winners’ ages. The old guard and traditionalists have been forced out by a wave of multi-discipline, ambitious and extremely talented young riders shaking up the peloton's status quo like never before.

These ambitious youngsters are unsurprisingly seen as hot property in the WorldTour, with the likes of 

 demonstrating that it pays dividends for teams to play the long game and invest in youth. It has led to several talented prospects being tied down to long-term deals stretching until 2026, 2027, and, in 

Christen has been tipped to reach the top echelons of the sport in the coming years, with 

 clearly confident in his potential, agreeing on a four-and-a-half-year deal with the Swiss rider this summer. Only 

 has been granted a deal with equal longevity by the team.

, Christen has experienced a rapid rise in just two years. After departing his local club for Tadej Pogačar’s development team in 2022, with multiple national titles already under his belt, he then claimed junior titles at the cyclo-cross worlds and European road championships before spending the first half of this season with 

Josh Tarling: Ineos Grenadiers will be a really strong team in the coming years

American 17-year-old AJ August signs for Ineos Grenadiers

A WorldTour debut swiftly arrived at the Tour de Romandie before an impressive breakaway victory on the penultimate stage of the Giro Next Gen.

Now settled into life at UAE Team Emirates after joining in August, 

ahead of last month's Veneto Classic, discussing how he got to this point and how far he believes he can go.

Pinning down where Christen’s journey to the WorldTour ranks began might seem straightforward for a rider only born in 2004, just one week before his compatriot Fabian Cancellara won his first Tour de France stage.

However, the summer of 1960 may be a better place to start. The Swiss rider’s grandfather Hans Schleuniger was one of 81 riders to complete the 47th edition of the Tour de France that July. Schleuniger, who passed away in 2021, may have finished 80th out of the 81 racers that made it to Paris, but he sowed the seed for the next two generations of his family.

“My grandfather was a cyclist and my parents were cyclists,” Christen said, with his father Josef who raced for Team Ericsson-Villager in the late 90s while his older brother, Fabio, currently rides for Q36.5 Pro Cycling. The 21-year-old won a stage of the Tour de l’Avenir this season, a coveted race for the next generation.

The brothers pushed each other to improve while growing up, whether that be in training, races, or even other sports: “When I was young I did some other sports successfully like triathlon, football, and athletics but then I had to make the decision and it was cycling,” Christen added.

Cycling proved to be the right route for the rider born 5km from the German border. Riding for his local Veloclub Gippingen as a teenager, he dabbled across different disciplines, leading to him becoming junior national champion in four different disciplines in 2021: cyclo-cross, mountain biking, track, and time trialling on the road.

It's not uncommon for a rider to flip-flop from one discipline to another during their early years, but spreading his time across four is quite the feat. Christen, like many of this new generation of riders, puts it down to doing more of what he enjoys and in turn, remaining motivated because of it: “I like to change bikes and train differently than others. I just enjoy riding every type of bike and also racing [on them].”

A year later and his exploits had gone further than the landlocked borders of Switzerland, with a junior World Championships title in cyclocross and a European road race title added to his small but impressive palmarès. These victories kickstarted his leap from the junior ranks straight to the WorldTour.

Christen had spent 2022 riding as a junior for the youth team founded by his now teammate and two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar. Pogi Team UAE Generali are sponsored by the WorldTour team and act as a quasi-development squad for the top-ranked men’s squad.

“I was riding as a junior for the Pogi team and there were already talks about joining UAE in the future, there was no contract but we talked about it, and for me, it was clear if I got the opportunity to go and join the team, I would,” Christen admitted.

It was a matter of when, not if, the youngster would join the ranks of UAE Team Emirates, even if there was one more stepping stone along the way. The 2023 campaign began with six months at another development team, and arguably one of the sport’s best in nurturing young talent, as Christen was placed in the care of Axel Merckx’s Hagens Berman Axeon team.

The American-based Continental team have an impressive track record, with the likes of George Bennett, Jasper Philipsen, João Almeida, and Tao Geoghegan Hart just some of the names to have passed through the team’s stable on their way to success at the sport’s highest level.

Though for all the wisdom and experience Merckx’s team provided Christen, it was always going to be a short-term stay:

“I talked to UAE about some development teams and for me, if I was to go to a development team, I wanted to go to them [Hagens Berman Axeon] and they arranged it.

“I really enjoyed it, for me it was the right decision,” added Christen while also hinting that the plan was to move over to UAE Team Emirates in the summer all along.

Now racing on the WorldTour alongside a plethora of household names at UAE Team Emirates, it's fair to say that Christen is, temporarily at least, a small fish in a big pond. Perhaps his surprise at 

wanting to chat with him, with a team soigneur having to swing open the bus curtain to prove it to him, makes you think that there’s still some impostor syndrome inside Christen’s mind.

Well, you would be wrong. A leap up to the WorldTour has brought its differences, such as the duration of races and his role in the team, but this is by no means the finish line for the Swiss youngster. 

“Racing is different, racing is longer. I have my job in the team to control the race, especially in the beginning, and then to help my teammates win the race," he said.

“When I started in the under-23s, most of the time I was the leader or I rode for the victory. So it's a bit different but I’m looking forward to next year. At the moment I still enjoy [the domestique duties] but at one point my goal is to win races and next year I want to win races.”

Confident he’ll receive those opportunities from the team, Christen gives off a cool and composed attitude for a rider so early into his professional career. There’s no arrogance, just confidence. A trait arguably shared by his once idol, now teammate, Tadej Pogačar.

Initially starstruck by the Slovenian talisman, Christen has soon come to take his presence in his stride: “In the beginning [riding with Tadej] was special, now for me he is like a friend and a teammate. [It’s] already like normal.”

Pogačar and Alberto Contador rank as the Swiss’ two inspirations growing up and their role as GC contenders is something else that he wishes to emulate.

“It is the goal but you never quite know how your body will develop. I have a bit of everything, time trialling I really like, going for the general classification, but also some Classics like Strade Bianche, I really like and would like to win,” explained Christen on what type of rider he sees himself developing into.

Nudged on which other races he’d like to see on his palmarès, Christen didn’t mince his words: “There are all the Monuments I want to win in the future and it depends on how I grow and develop but for sure, also to win the Tour de France.”

Tour de France 2024: Analysing the contenders

I would rate the Tour de France route a 9/10, says Tadej Pogačar

There’s no bigger claim for a rider to make in cycling than to earmark the Tour as a target, not least at just 19 years old.

Alongside a lengthy contract, running to the end of 2028, it could be fair to say that Christen risks displaying all the hallmarks of a rider who becomes a victim of their own success, unable to deal with the pressure heaped on them from a young age. Yet pressure seems to create fuel rather than fear for the youngster.

Asked if his contract, one of the longest in the WorldTour, weighs heavy on his shoulders, Christen was adamant in his response.: “No, zero [pressure]. The big pressure is coming from myself, I want to win and to perform. The team have given me time so for me it's not stressful.”

With a skillset akin to a Swiss army knife and ambitions loftier than most, Jan Christen could well be the next young talent to announce himself to the cycling world in 2024. He’ll just have to deal with those veteran 25 year olds first.

Ben Wiggins: The dream is to ride for Ineos Grenadiers one day

Ben Wiggins on the podium at the UCI World Championships in Glasgow after winning a silver medal in the men's junior time trial

We have an exclusive interview with Ben Wiggins about his recent world title, his dreams of joining Ineos Grenadiers and his next steps

Ben Wiggins exclusive interview: The dream is to ride for Ineos Grenadiers one day

After claiming a superb silver medal in the time trial at the 

 in Glasgow the up-and-coming star headed to Colombia where he picked up his maiden world title in the junior Madison. The Madison is a title synonymous with the Wiggins family with Ben’s father 

 a two-time world champion at the senior level but for Ben, the rainbow jersey is just the start of what could potentially be a successful professional career. 

Yet while comparisons between both generations are easy and almost inevitable there’s no doubting that the 18-year-old is not racing in anyone’s shadow as he strives to leave his own mark on the sport of cycling.

, Wiggins talks about his recent success, and why the parallels between the Wiggins dynasty and that of the Merckx household enticed him to sign for the 

Team Jayco AlUla and Hagens Berman Axeon to partner in 2024

The road and track specialist opens up about his dreams for WorldTour success, the positive influence his father has had, and how racing for 

: Firstly congratulations on the junior Madison world title. You got back from Colombia a couple of days ago, so how are you feeling?

It’s not really sunk in yet, to be honest. It’s not a feeling that you can really describe because you work for it, and it’s been a dream of mine to be a world champion since forever. To do it is so surreal but it’s starting to sink in a bit but it’s a good feeling, that’s for sure.

: You had the form at Glasgow Worlds where you won a silver in the junior time trial or was it a case of trying to juggle your training with back-to-back events?

 Sort of but we’re going towards the end of the year now and it’s hard when you’re coming off that high of the time trial in Glasgow and then the next morning going back to training for Colombia. It wasn’t hard and I managed it but I did have a bit of a shocker in the week leading up to the Madison. The Madison salvaged Worlds for me, to be honest. I was eighth in the Omnium and then fourth in the Points race and I missed out on a medal in the last sprint but I wasn't racing like I normally do and I wasn’t really clear in my own head. It might have been the environment that was difficult to adjust to but with the Madison, it was with someone else and maybe it’s because they’re counting on you that you feel like you need to keep it together for one more race. In the end, something came over me and I was getting back to what I normally do. The stars aligned.

: I’ve got to ask, where’s the rainbow jersey now?

It’s stuffed in a plastic bag right now because I’m going out with my mates tonight and I want to show them.

: How are you feeling about the year you’ve had in terms of the goals you set for yourself and how the campaign panned out?

 It’s been a surreal year, to be honest. I set out my goals towards the end of last year and all my main aims I’ve been able to accomplish. That’s a really nice feeling. Okay, I missed out on Paris-Roubaix but that’s Roubaix, isn't it? Anything can happen in that race but with everything else, it’s worked out. I said I wanted to win a stage race this year, and I’ve achieved that. I said I wanted to win a medal at the road Worlds, and I made that happen, and then the main goal this year was to become a world champion. I knew that I had a decent shot at that with the road and track Worlds, so it’s been a pretty mad year. I’m happy with how I’ve developed as well and from where I was at the start of my time as a junior to where I am now, I feel like ten times the bike rider I was back then.

: Do you mean that in terms of strength, experience, confidence or just the whole package?

 Everything really. Just for starters, my confidence has come on loads and when I think back to my first junior race I was bricking it and now I go into a race very confident that I can win it. Then in terms of strength and development, the whole package has come on loads in the last two years and hopefully, I can carry on with the same trajectory.

: What do you put that career progression down to? I know you’re working with Giles Pidcock [ed. Tom Pidcock’s father] as a team manager but who else is in that support bubble for you?

Giles is my team manager and he’s been a big part of that. My coach, Stuart Blunt, who is the junior coach for British Cycling, I can’t thank him enough. He’s been through it all with me over the last two years, from winning the European points race last year, all the way to Sunday and the Madison. He was following me in the car at the Worlds in Glasgow and I put it all down to him. Obviously, then my friends, family, girlfriend, they’ve all done it just as much as I have and made sacrifices with me. I can’t thank them enough.

: And you’ve got the Axeon team move coming up. That’s a great team to take that next step of your development with. What was the reason for selecting them as your future team? Was it because they’ll help you keep your road and track ambitions working in tandem or because Axel Merckx is such an experienced leader when it comes to developing talent?

My main priority was being able to do both road and track. I started talking to Axel around this time last year with just some initial conversations. Over the past few months, it became more serious and like any top junior I had a few options but for me, for starters, they’ve had dozens of riders go through and become WorldTour pros. Axel has proven that it’s the best development team in my eyes, and for me, my main reason for going is because of Axel’s background. With the dad he had growing up, he knew the pressures. He’s been through it all and probably to a bigger degree with his dad being the greatest cyclist of all time in 

, and I couldn’t think of anyone better to guide me through the pressures that will come with the name. The good and bad. 

It was a bonus because of all the great staff they have around and I think it’s the perfect environment for me to develop. Obviously, the goal is to get to the WorldTour, and I don’t think there’s anywhere better for me to do that. Also, if you go to a team like Jumbo, FDJ or any of the WorldTour development teams it’s not a knock on them, because they’re all amazing, but at this point in my career I didn’t want to get tied down to living anywhere, with Axeon it’s super flexible, and it’s just the perfect place for me.

: I don’t want to be one of the countless journalists who bombard you with questions about the family name but you did mention the fact that Axel has that parallel upbringing to you. I’d really like to know what your process is when it comes to dealing with the pros and cons of that, coupled with your own desires as a rider and the expectations around you. 

To be honest there’s no process to it. No one can prepare you for the pressure and the noise that comes with it. You deal with it on the fly and it’s not a set process. It’s only difficult to deal with when it’s not going well. Obviously this season it’s gone well most of the time so it’s not really been an issue but next year we go back to square one, so I’m sure there will be new challenges that come with it. I’d like to think that I’ve dealt with it well enough as a junior.

: It very much sounds like you can stand on your own two feet and take on that responsibility. Do you just roll with it?

 I think so and I think that’s down to my dad as well. He’s very vocal about staying out of it and people ask me what advice he gives me and honestly, it’s very little unless I ask him a question. I know how I work and there’s only so much he can tell me but it’s more about having his presence rather than the advice. I owe a lot to him because of how he’s been with me. I feel that a lot of ex-pros can be quite pushy and they want it just as bad as they wanted it but whatever I do, I know that my dad is proud of me.

: I get the sense from you that you don’t shy away from the pressure. You seem to embrace the name and it feels like you’re ingrained and at ease with who you are. 

I try my best. There’s no point thinking ‘why me, why have I got all this pressure?’ There’s no point in that. It took me some time to learn that, and I think that’s a credit to my dad and those around me. I want to make my own name for myself and in order to do that you’ve just got to get on with it. Being around the sport my whole life, I know how to carry myself. 

: And do you know what your aspirations are for next season when you join Axeon? I know it’s only August but in your mind do you have targets that you want to strive towards?

Like most athletes, I’m thinking ahead, so for me that means developing as much as I can, and I’d love it if a WorldTour contract comes at the end of next year. For me, I just want to develop and then ride the Baby Giro and Tour of Britain. That would be a good set of goals to have. I’ll see what comes from that because I don’t want to say I’m targeting this many wins or anything like that because that just creates more pressure.

: So with WorldTour contracts is that something you’re looking at signing after one year or Axeon, or again are you keen to develop at the right pace?

Well I don’t want to hang around but I think it comes down to how I’m feeling in myself, how the people around me think, and if the offer is there then I can’t see myself turning it down. We’ll see what comes and if I get that offer next year great, but if I have to wait another year then so be it. Long-term is what matters, so I won’t rush.

: And I guess there will be those inevitable links with Ineos/Sky, although it’s a very different team to the one your dad raced at. 

Ineos, for any British rider, and perhaps more so for me having grown up around the team, and being on the bus as a young kid, that would obviously be the long-term dream but I think I’d just like to go to a team that’s best for me and where I can make a name for myself. At Ineos, you need to be able to win and I’d like to go to that team as a winner one day. If that’s the best team for me then I’d love to go there but there’s 18 WorldTour teams and there could be options but the dream one day is to ride for Ineos. 

We’ll see what comes because Axeon also has a link with Jayco now and I’ve always admired them. Matt White is a DS there, and he was my dad’s DS when he broke through at Garmin, so I’ve known Matt a long time. Those teams would be nice. I’ll just have to see how I develop.

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