News Round-up: World Championships get underway and new EF women’s team takes shape

Carrying on the tradition of early August, Thursday brought another day full of news in the world of cycling, headlined by the announcement of a new EF Pro Cycling women’s team. Following yesterday’s exclusive, we also bring you an important update on the situation of Eritrea’s visa issues ahead of the UCI World Championships, whilst Nils Politt has signed for UAE Team Emirates for 2024 and beyond. Elsewhere, we have the racing results from the Tour de Pologne. All that and more in today’s Edition…

| Esra Tromp to lead new EF Pro Cycling women’s team

EF Pro Cycling have announced that Esra Tromp has been brought on board as the general manager of their all new women’s team launching in 2024, which will be known as EF Education Cycling. Tromp has recent experience of heading up a brand-new team, having served as the first team manager of Jumbo-Visma’s Women’s WorldTeam from 2021 to May of this year.

Whilst not explicitly stated in EF’s announcement, the news will likely spell the end of their sponsorship of Linda Jackson’s TIBCO squad, which has been known as EF Education-TIBCO-SVB since the start of 2022. With the departure of SVB as title sponsor in 2024 after nine years with the team, EF’s departure will leave Jackson’s WorldTour squad with a financial hole to fill.

As for EF, it has become clear that they would prefer to start their own in-house women’s professional team rather than continue to act as title sponsors to Jackson’s project, which began in 2007.

"Next year, the main goals are to be really visible within the races and to build a cohesive group of riders and staff,” admitted the ever-sensible Tromp. “We want our team to be visible, to be out there, and of course to try to win races. Beyond 2024, I think this team definitely has the potential to be one of the best teams in the world.”

Time will tell as to how the news will impact Jackson’s squad, but for the time being, it appears that EF Education-Cannondale will begin its life as a UCI Continental side, something that will be familiar to Tromp after managing Team Parkhotel Valkenburg for three seasons before heading up the Jumbo-Visma project.

| The latest on the Eritrean visas for World Championships

Merhawi Kudus, Natnael Tesfatsion and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier will not race the UCI World Championships after failing to acquire visas to travel to the UK, with uncertainty surrounding the situation of fellow Eritrean Biniam Girmay.

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Merhawi Kudus has spoken to GCN after the Eritrean plans were thrown into disarray

Having been told by one rider that all applications had been submitted for the seven-man squad, GCN has since learned that the trio above were not denied visas but rather found themselves effectively unable to apply for one.

The Eritrean riders were given a document from the organisers of the Worlds Championships outlining three options for applying for visas, the first a free service with a 15-day processing time, the second costing £250 with a five-day turnaround, and a third ‘super-priority’ option with next-day processing at a cost of £956.

Team leader Biniam Girmay reportedly submitted an application on June 1, while the Eritrean Federation helped other non-WorldTour riders apply through the British embassy in Turkey. However, after bruising experiences trying to enter the UK in the past, Kudus said that he and his teammates could not afford to hand over their passports for such a period of time, citing their race schedules, and had banked on the super priority option - only to claim it was unavailable via the embassies in their countries of residence.

“The three of us, it’s the same thing. The three of us were looking for the super priority visa, but we could not find it in the system,” Kudus told GCN. “In Italy they cannot find it, in Spain we cannot find it. They just see this outside of Europe, I think. Our federation can find it in Turkey, but not in Spain or Italy.”

“With the experiences I have had I didn’t want to leave my passport. I was rejected twice,” he added, referring to the 2015 Tour de Yorkshire - where a last-gasp solution was eventually found - and the 2019 Worlds in Yorkshire. “You are never sure with the UK and it’s not easy to speak to a person about it.”

Lidl-Trek, the team of Ghebreigzabhier and Tesfatsion, have indicated to GCN that the former was indeed in the same boat as Kudus while the latter had already given up on Worlds due to an injury.

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Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier of Lidl-Trek and Eritrea has suffered the same fate as teammate, Merhawi Kudus

There is also conflicting information surrounding Biniam Girmay, one of the favourites for the world title who withdrew on Wednesday due to an injury, according to his Intermarché-Circus-Wanty team.

GCN was informed this week by two riders on the Eritrean team that Girmay was not in possession of a visa. A representative for Girmay acknowledged that situation on Wednesday but declined to comment, describing it as “sensitive” and “a political matter”.

Ahead of publication, the UK Home Office told GCN it would not comment on individual cases and on Wednesday afternoon circulated a statement to that effect. That night, however, GCN received a phone call from a figure within the government suggesting that Girmay’s visa application had been approved on July 27. This was not stated on the record by the Home Office.

The Guardian’s Jeremy Whittle reported on Thursday afternoon that “Girmay’s representatives were called by the Home Office this morning and told that he now has a UK visa”. It was also reported that Girmay applied for a visa on June 1, but this would appear to have been unsuccessful initially as Kudus confirmed that Girmay had to visit the UK embassy in Belgium following the conclusion of the Tour de France on July 23, seven working days ago.

“There are two different problems,” Kudus said. “For Bini, already they deny him but for us the super priority is not an option.”

*Update written by Patrick Fletcher

| Cattaneo wins Tour de Pologne TT as Mohorič narrowly retains lead

On what was expected to be a critical penultimate test at the Tour de Pologne, the 16.6km individual time trial delivered a first-time stage winner, a return to form for a Grand Tour stage winner, and an enthralling battle for the race lead. In the end, Soudal-Quick Step’s Mattia Cattaneo rose triumphant in Katowice, whilst Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) poked his head above the parapet to finish third and Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) defended his yellow jersey from a rampaging João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates).

Thomas had enjoyed a quiet return to racing in his first stage race since finishing runner-up at the Giro d’Italia, but he could hide no longer on stage 6 as a classy time trial delivered him to third place and offered a glimpse into his form ahead of La Vuelta a España. One place better than the Welshman was Almeida, who finished 13 seconds behind stage winner Cattaneo and took 12 seconds on race leader, Mohorič.

But for Mohorič, his 11th-place finish and prior stage finishes - including the win on stage 2 - ensured that he would retain his lead from Almeida at the end of the day, despite both riders having ridden the first six stages in exactly 22:49:07. Tied on time and 14 seconds ahead of third-placed Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), Mohorič and Almeida are set for a blockbuster final-day showdown on Friday.

| Nils Politt bolsters UAE Team Emirates’ rouleur firepower

After three years with the Bora-Hansgrohe squad, German big-man Nils Politt will be moving over to UAE Team Emirates for the 2024 season on a three-year contract. At 6’2”, Politt is one of the larger presences in the peloton and, with a big engine, he is a rider as adept in the Classics as he is working for his teammates in stage races.

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Attacking from the breakaway, Nils Politt made an 11.8km-long solo effort count at the 2021 Tour de France

As such, the 29-year-old should prove an astute signing for the squad of Grand Tour specialists João Almeida, Juan Ayuso and of course, two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar. Politt was part of Bora-Hansgrohe’s squad at the recent Tour de France, in which teammate Jai Hindley finished seventh after a spell in the yellow jersey. With his ability to control the pace of a peloton on the flatlands, UAE Team Emirates will find themselves more capable of controlling breakaways.

“I’m really excited to be riding over the next years with UAE Team Emirates,” commented Politt. “I think it’s one of the biggest teams in the world and also another step in my career. I hope we have a lot of success together and achieve some good results together, so I’m really looking forward to the next 3 years.”

Indeed, Politt will not only offer his services as a dedicated teammate, but as a winner in his own right. The current German national time trial champion, Politt is also a former national road race champion and took the biggest victory of his career on stage 12 of the 2021 Tour de France. He will also have an eye on going one better than his second-place finish at the 2019 Paris-Roubaix.

| Sam Bennett reportedly close to AG2R Citroën switch

As reported by Ciro Scognamiglio of La Gazzetta dello Sport, Irish sprinter Sam Bennett is moving closer to a transfer from Bora-Hansgrohe to French outfit, AG2R Citroën. It is believed that only a few minor details remain to be arranged before the move can officially be announced, which would mark an end to a disappointing period for Bennett and see AG2R Citroën move in a surprising direction.

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Sam Bennett won his first Grand Tour stages in two years at the 2022 Vuelta a España, and AG2R Citroën will hope to resurrect that magic

The French squad have not had a flagship sprinter since the days of four-time Tour de France stage-winner, Jaan Kirsipuu, in the early 2000s. Since then, the team has oriented itself around climbers such as Romain Bardet and Ben O’Connor, with versatile fast men like Marc Sarreau and Clément Venturini playing a bit-part role in the team’s ambitions.

The addition of Bennett would land them a Tour de France green jersey winner and a man who was once considered the fastest sprinter in the world.

Admittedly, since a knee injury forced him to miss out on defending his green jersey at the 2021 Tour de France, Bennett’s career has taken a turn for the worse. A public spat with Soudal-Quick Step boss Patrick Lefevere saw him leave the Belgian squad at the end of that season, and since his return to Bora-Hansgrohe - where he had made his name as a sprinter - major wins have been few and far between.

| Jonas Iversby Hvideberg joins Andreas Leknessund in Uno-X return

After Tuesday’s announcement of Andreas Leknessund’s return to Uno-X from dsm-firmenich, the Norwegian team have also announced the acquisition of Jonas Iversby Hvideberg from the Dutch team. With the addition of Magnus Cort already announced, Uno-X are rivalling Tudor Pro Cycling for the most successful transfer window to date.

The pair of Leknessund and Hvideberg are both set to make their homecomings to Uno-X in the New Year, with Leknessund having made the move from the Scandinavian outfit to dsm-firmenich in 2021, followed by Hvideberg the following year. When Hvideberg’s transfer to dsm-firmenich was announced in August 2021, the Classics specialist cited the presence of Leknessund as an important draw for him to the team, which makes his return alongside his fellow 24-year-old unsurprising ahead of 2024.

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Jonas Iverbsy Hvideberg has ridden two Grand Tours during his time with dsm-firmenich, most recently at the Giro d’Italia in May

Leknessund and Hvideberg have raced together since the junior ranks, but it has been the former who has enjoyed the more successful spell with dsm-firmenich, with Hvideberg failing to get a win over his two-year spell. Uno-X will hope to refind the Norwegian’s spark that had seen him U23 European Championship road race in 2020 and Paris-Tours Espoirs the following year.

Just like Cort and Leknessund, Hvideberg has put pen to paper on a deal until the end of 2026, whilst Uno-X have also confirmed the capture of young Danish talent Henrik Pedersen on a contract until 2027. The 18-year-old will ride for their Development Team in 2024 and 2025, before making the jump to the professional ranks in 2026.

| Lotto Dstny announce hat trick of signings to strengthen their squad

Belgian ProTeam Lotto Dstny have made the triple-signings of Jenno Berckmoes, Lionel Taminiaux and Henri Vandenabeele, each on two-year contracts beginning on January 1.

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Jenno Berckmoes: ‘I would describe myself as a puncheur and I’m dreaming of races like Brabantse Pijl, Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.’

“We are happy that these three talented Belgians are joining our Lotto Dstny project,” revealed CEO Stéphane Heulot. “With these riders, we are strengthening the team on different terrains. Vandenabeele is a promising climber, Berckmoes is someone for the hilly races and Taminiaux proved himself as an allrounder with a fast sprint.”

Aged 22, 23 and 27, respectively, Berckmoes, Vandenabeele and Taminiaux will each bring different assets to the side. Vandenabeele may have suffered a couple of lean years with dsm-firmenich where he has suffered for form and fitness, but what is undeniable is his climbing talents, having finished second at the Giro Next Gen in 2020 to Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers).

Meanwhile, Team Flanders-Baloise youngster Berckmoes will target the Ardennes Classics and Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Taminiaux will seek to build on the sprint that delivered him to second at this year’s Circuit de Wallonie, narrowly missing out to future Tour de France stage winner, Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe).

World Championships Roundup

The racing at the 2023 UCI World Championships got underway today, with a major shock in the morning as reigning champions and pre-race favourites Great Britain crashed out of the Team Pursuit in dramatic fashion. It was a nightmare for Charlie Tanfield, whose crash saw Great Britain fail to post a qualifying time and unable to re-start their run. Tanfield had lined up alongside Dan Bigham, Ethan Vernon and Ollie Wood, as Great Britain looked to replicate their gold medal from last year’s Worlds. In their absence, Denmark set the fastest time of 3:46:816, with New Zealand, Italy, Australia, France, Canada, Germany and Japan finishing in their wake - all qualifying for Round 1 on Friday.

There was better news for the home fans as Jody Cundy smashed the world record to win the Men’s C4 Omnium 200m Time Trial. With no qualification round, Cundy stormed to victory in the final in a historic time of 10.427, picking up the gold medal ahead of Gatien le Rousseau (France) and Jarno Thierens (Belgium).

In the other events from Thursday’s morning session, Chloe Dygert (USA) qualified fastest in the women’s individual pursuit, while in the team sprints it was Great Britain’s women and the Netherlands’ men who qualified fastest.

In the Women B 1km time trial, Britain’s Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl qualified quickest, while over in the women’s C5 500m TT it was the Netherlands’ Caroline Groot.

From an octopus’ garden in the shade, it is time to bid adieu. Until the next time.