News Round-up: Lauren Molengraaf commits future to three teams in unique multidisciplinary deal

We bring you the latest transfer deals, including a unique three-team deal for Lauren Molengraaf, plus the latest from the Tour of Luxembourg and the individual time trials at the European Championships.

19:24, Wednesday 20th September 2023

Tom Hallam-Gravells

Online Production Editor

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Lauren Molengraaf has signed pro contracts with FDJ Suez and Intermarché-Circus-Wanty

| Lauren Molengraaf signs pro contracts with FDJ Suez and Intermarché-Circus-Wanty

It’s been a busy day for young Dutch star Lauren Molengraaf who has signed pro contracts with FDJ Suez, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty and Lapierre-Mavic Unity. The deals have been agreed as a part of a three-team collaboration that will allow the 17-year-old to continue her multidisciplinary approach, targeting the road, cyclocross and mountain biking with the three teams, respectively.

“Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, FDJ-Suez and Lapierre-Mavic Unity share the same vision about my future, that’s why I’ve chosen this particular adventure with three high level teams," Molengraaf said of the unique deal in a press release. "In each discipline, I’ll receive the opportunity to grow at my pace in a professional environment.”

Molengraaf is one of the rising stars in cyclocross

So far, the majority of Molengraaf’s success has come off-road where she won seven races over the previous cyclocross season, including the junior women’s European title. That success came while riding for Tormans, the cyclocross team owned by Intermarche-Circus-Wanty, who Molengraaf has committed her CX future to, becoming the first female rider to sign a pro contract with the team as she makes the step up to the under-23 category.

Alongside her off-road ambitions, Molengraaf will also compete for FDJ Suez on the road, making the step up to WorldTour level in a deal that will also run through until the end of 2025. For mountain biking, the youngster will compete for Lapierre-Mavic Unity.

More transfer news: Movistar women sign multidisciplinary sensation Cat Ferguson

| Corbin Strong triumphs in punchy opening stage of Tour of Luxembourg

Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) held off the rest of the bunch on the tough uphill sprint to the line to win the opening stage of the Tour of Luxembourg and claim the first leader’s jersey. Having launched his sprint early, the New Zealander narrowly edged out Søren Kragh Andersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), with the fast-finishing Alex Aranburu (Movistar) coming up just short as he claimed third.

Strong powered to his second pro victory

The victory was a just reward for Israel-Premier Tech who committed to controlling the punchy stage, alongside Movistar, in a bid to set up the eventual winner. That ensured that the day’s four-man breakaway was kept on a tight leash, hovering at around one minute once the riders entered the final 50km, although the peloton only reeled the escapees in with 10km remaining.

That drew out multiple attacks including from Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) and Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar) as the two teams who had controlled the peloton for most of the day ensured that they didn’t miss out on any potential winning moves. With the attackers quickly absorbed back into the group, the peloton settled down and the trains chugged into motion as teams turned their focus to the finale, featuring a short but sharp climb to the line.

Lotto Dstny piled on the pressure before Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) attempted to launch up the road, but the bunch remained intact heading into the final kilometre. Benefitting from an Uno-X slipstream, Corbin kicked first and there was nothing anyone could do to catch him.

While most of the main GC favourites finished safely in the bunch, Groupama-FDJ duo Thibaut Pinot and David Gaudu both withdrew midway through the stage due to illness.

| Marlen Reusser defends European Time Trial title

By George Poole

Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) made it a hat trick of victories in the European Time Trial Championships, dominating her competition in the Netherlands to seal the gold medal and retain her title. The Swiss specialist rebounded from a disappointing World Championships to cross the line in Emmen in just 35:53, with an average speed of over 49km/h.

Reusser's dominance in the individual time trial at the European Championsips continued

Behind Reusser, Anna Henderson (Great Britain) produced another impressive ride to seal the silver medal, with Austria's Christina Schweinberger less than a second behind the young Brit in third place.

Schweinberger could be content with the bronze medal, as the day's early hot seat occupier, Audrey Cordon-Ragot (France), was bumped down to fourth place. For the day's winner, there could not be a much sweeter birthday present.

"It's really really special and nice to win it for a third time," beamed Reusser. "It makes me really happy and especially today, as it's my birthday! So it is a really special day."

"I think for my physics, it is a good [course], although I think at the moment I can also climb pretty well, so it doesn't really matter."

| Josh Tarling takes emphatic victory to become European time trial champion

By Patrick Fletcher

Josh Tarling (Great Britain) continued his meteoric rise by becoming the European time trial champion on Wednesday, beating the likes of Wout van Aert (Belgium) and Stefan Bissegger (Switzerland) to take his first major elite title at just 19 years of age.

Tarling skipped the U23 ranks to turn professional with Ineos Grenadiers at the start of 2023 and while his shock bronze medal at the World Championships last month was one thing, this victory was something else. It wasn’t just a step forward, but a leap. Over the course of a flat 29.6km course in the Netherlands, Tarling won by a mammoth 42-second margin.

Defending champion Bissegger was the rider to finish runner-up, producing a big negative split to edge out Van Aert by a fraction.

| US sensation AJ August linked to Ineos

By Logan Jones-Wilkins

While Joshua Tarling is the first teenage sensation at Ineos, he might not be the last, as the American junior AJ August is rumoured to be vaulting to the WorldTour with the British outfit next year.

August currently races for Hot Tubes Cycling and was slated to ride for the highly touted Hagens Berman Axeon development team. The Axeon plan had been for August to race one year with the development team in 2024. A hugely multi-disciplined rider, August has enjoyed a breakout year with wins in Koppencross and U.S. cyclo-cross nationals.

Now, it seems like August will get the WorldTour call up early as Ineos Grenadiers continue to retool for their future.

“I have had my team for 32 years and he is the most talented rider I have had or seen,” Toby Stanton, the Hot Tubes director and founder, told GCN.

“He went and did an Ineos training camp in Mallorca this January and they did some testing on him and Vo2 test on him and he was 92. They said that they didn't have anyone that could do what he could do.”

“He is Remco, but probably with more power.”

| Mark Cavendish’s retirement plans may be postponed

By Dan Benson

Over two and a half months since his Tour de France crash and abandonment, it remains unclear whether Mark Cavendish will prolong his career into 2024 and have one more tilt at Tour de France glory.

However, the indications are that the 38-year-old will decide to row back on the retirement decision he announced in May and extend his career until at least the end of next year’s Tour de France.

A number of riders, ex-riders and agents within pro cycling have all indicated to GCN that, while they don’t have 100 per cent confirmation from the man himself, all signs point towards a career extension into 2024.

Last month, La Gazzetta dello Sport also reported that a deal between the rider and Astana was close to completion and GCN has discovered that several squads that were discussing a deal with Cavendish ahead of 2023 have not been offered his services for next year.

That could, of course, indicate that his retirement plans hold firm but it could also explain Gazzetta’s reporting and why Astana have made so few signings and continue to praise Cavendish in public.

| Lukas Nerurkar becomes latest rider to turn pro at EF Education-EasyPost

Lukas Nerurkar will make the step up from EF Education-EasyPost from Trinity Racing

The transfer window has been open for nearly two months now but new deals are still being announced, including for Lukas Nerurkar who has become the latest rider to join EF Education-EasyPost.

Making the step up from Trinity Racing, Nerurkar has signed a two-year contract with the American team and is the latest neo-pro to join its ranks for the coming season following Jack Rootkin-Gray, Archie Ryan, Darren Rafferty and Jardi Christiaan van der Lee.

Nerurkar has enjoyed plenty of success at under-23 level this season, winning a stage at the Giro Next Gen, while also impressing in the pro ranks, winning the youth classification at O Gran Camiño in February.