Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, December 16, 2021
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2021 Tour de France | 2021 Giro d'Italia
You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us. - Robert Louis Stevenson
Les Woodland's book The Olympics' 50 Craziest Stories: A Five Ring Circus is available as an audiobook here. For the print or Kindle eBook version just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- Dec 19: Namur Cyclocross
- Dec 27: Heusden Zolder Cyclocross
- Dec 29: Diegemcross
- Dec 30: Azencross
- Jan 1, 2022: GP Sven Nys Cross
- Jan 16 - 23, 2022: Le Tour de Langkawi
- Jan 22, 2022: Flandriencross
- Jan 26 - 29, 2022: Challenge Illes Balears
- Jan 30 - Feb 6, 2022: Vuelta a San Juan
- Feb 12, 2022: Gavere Cyclocross
Latest completed racing:
- Dec 11: Ethiascross-Essen
- Dec 5:
Scheldecross Antwerp- Cancelled because of Covid-19 - Nov 13: GP Leuven
- Nov 7: Elite Men European Cyclocross Championships
- Nov 6: Elite Women European Cyclocross Championships
- Nov 1: Koppenberg Cyclocross
The team sent me this update:
Team BikeExchange, to be named Team BikeExchange-Jayco in 2022, is pleased to welcome Dutch duo Pieter Weening and Tristan Hoffman, as sport directors of the men’s WorldTour team for the upcoming 2022 season.
Having both raced professionally for more than 10 years, the team is confident that the pair will bring invaluable experience and expertise, that will be of great benefit to the Australian outfit as it begins its 11thseason in the UCI WorldTour peloton.
Pieter Weening winning the 6th stage of the 2016 Tour of Switzerland. Sirotti photo
Pieter Weening, a former GreenEDGE Cycling rider, will be welcomed back amongst many familiar faces having ridden for the squad for four years, contributing to many of the team’s successes between 2012 and 2015, including his own memorable stage victory at the 2014 Giro d’Italia.
Alongside Weening, fellow compatriot Tristan Hoffman enjoyed a lengthy and successful 14-year professional cycling career, which included a second-place finish at the iconic Paris-Roubaix before he transitioned into the role of sport director, a role which he has been working in for more than a decade with various WorldTour teams.
Brent Copeland, Team BikeExchange General Manager:
“We’re very pleased to welcome both Pieter and Tristan to the team for next season, Pieter was of course racing with GreenEDGE Cycling only six-years ago, so he is very familiar with how the team works and we believe he can add a lot to our sport director’s group. Tristan has a huge amount of experience, particularly in the Belgian races, where he was very successful himself as a rider. With this, he brings a great amount of knowledge to the team, particularly for our riders racing these Northern Classics.
"As we bring Dylan Groenewegen into the team, it is also fitting for us to include two new Dutch sport directors, we know both men really well and I think Pieter and Tristan's characteristics really fit in with the team culture. So, we are thrilled to have them both onboard and working with us to achieve our big goals for the 2022 season.”
Pieter Weening:
“I’m really looking forward to working with GreenEDGE Cycling again, for me it is a huge advantage that I know a lot of riders and a lot of staff members. It is a real honour for me to work for a great and big team like this. I’m really grateful they gave me this opportunity and I hope we can start soon with building and getting some results with all the members of the team, I am really looking forward to it.”
Tristan Hoffman:
“I really like the culture of GreenEDGE Cycling and how they race, they always race aggressively and of course they want to win more and win big races and I hope I can help with that. I’ve been a sport director for 15 years, this year in 2021 I had a sort of sabbatical, but I really found out how much I love cycling. I have been part of the cycling world for 30-years and it has brought me a lot, it is my passion and I love being involved so I am very happy to be joining GreenEDGE Cycling. I’ve seen the team race for the past 10-years, I know the guys well and everybody has been really welcoming, so I can’t wait to get started.”
Team BikeExchange-Jayco 2022 men’s team sport directors:
Matt White (AUS) – Head Sport Director
Vittorio Algeri (ITA)
Gene Bates (AUS)
Mathew Hayman (AUS)
Tristan Hoffman (NED)
David McPartland (AUS)
Andrew Smith (RSA)
Pieter Weening (NED)
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The team sent me this press release:
We are proud to announce that Mark Padun is the newest member of our 2022 roster.
While there is no singular path that will get a rider into the WorldTour, Padun’s is certainly a unique one, with uncommon twists and turns.
“Until I started cycling, I was always doing stuff like dancing and painting,” Padun says. “In school we used to train for dancing.” The 25-year-old says his dancing days are now well behind him. “I’ve only danced one time in the last few years. It was on a date,” he laughs. And as for painting? “Like dancing, it’s a skill I’ve forgotten from not practicing,” he jokes.
Mark Padun wins stage 8 of the 2021 Dauphine. Sirotti photo
Growing up in the city of Donetsk, Ukraine, Padun was adventurous and curious. “I was always trying new things,” he says. “When I was young, I was like, ‘Oh I want to do this, I want to do that’ because a lot of my friends were doing things that seemed cool."
In fact, it was this sense of curiosity that led him to riding as an 11-year-old. “A coach came to my class and told us we could go and try these bicycles for free and I decided I wanted to go. I told my father I was going to try cycling and he said, ‘Ok, for how long?’ because before that it was dancing and there was always something new. I said, ‘No, I want to do cycling for a long time.’ And, well, I guess it’s been a long time now!”
While Padun had fun riding around town with his brother and participating in local races, results didn’t come immediately. “Once I got third place in a race and I thought, ‘Wow, super cool!’”
But he stuck with it and as he hit his teenage years, Padun started to gain attention. “We were always training and racing for our school, then for the city, then for the region. I started doing well in regional races and I was invited to go to a sports school because they saw talent in me,” he says.
Padun attended a sports-focused boarding school for high school. “I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot of things there. When you are 14 and you live with your parents, you are completely dependent on them. Then you live away from them and it’s a big deal. You have to make your own plans. You’re still a child but you are growing up.”
After he graduated in 2014, he returned to his childhood home in Donetsk where he continued racing until the political situation grew too volatile due to hostilities between Ukraine and Russia.
“Thanks to my parents, I hardly saw any of the war. As soon as the army came to Donetsk, they sent me away almost immediately. I saw soldiers for a few days and I understood this was something serious. My parents understood what my dreams and goals were. They understood that to train in an area with a war was a bad idea. I left thinking, ‘Ok, this is for a few weeks and then I’m going to come back.’ And then it turned out I never went back there to live. I cannot say these were easy times.”
Padun’s parents sent him to a small town near the capital Kyiv where his aunt and uncle lived and he was able to continue training and racing. Meanwhile, his parents and younger siblings stayed in Donetsk. “Where could they move to?” he asks. “There were millions of people trying to escape the war.” Eventually, his family was able to move within Ukraine and have now settled in Seattle.
Padun himself has been based in western Europe for the last few years but he still maintains a close relationship with some of the coaches he met while living with his aunt and uncle. “We are always in contact. Even now they are trying to help me by trying to put on a training camp for me. At the same time, I’m trying to explain, ‘No, I’m already pro and I have plenty of camps and it’s the off season.’ I understand though. They try to do their best. It’s touching.”
With such dedication and support behind him, Padun has no trouble staying motivated and has his sights set on the future. “I want to become a rider for Grand Tours. I believe that I can do it because all of the people who have been working with me have told me that I have talent. I understand that I have to improve to meet this goal so I’m still working on this but I believe it is possible,” he says.
Team CEO Jonathan Vaughters also sees Grand Tour success in Padun’s future. “I fully expect him to win his first stage of a Grand Tour in the next couple of years. I have no doubt that he’ll do that. I know he can find the right breakaway in a mountain stage and climb away from everyone else and win stages. I know he can do that in Grand Tours. Whether he can expand on that to win mountain jerseys or contend in general classification, that part we have to find out. But for this year, let’s focus on a couple of stage wins. I’m 100% confident he can do it.”
Building Padun’s consistency will be key for the 2022 season. Vaughters says, “I see him as one of the biggest talents in modern cycling right now. He’s been an extremely inconsistent talent but on his good days, he’s proven that he’s one of the very best climbers in the world. It’s our job to figure out how to get him a few more of those good days and work on the consistency a little bit.”
“He’s been on my radar for a very long time,” Vaughters says. “He’s just an incredibly talented climber. He also has a nose for finding the right breakaway and then he seems quite resistant once he’s in the breakaway. When you’re out there for four, five, six hours in the breakaway, just because you’re a good climber doesn’t mean that you can handle sitting out there in the wind that long. He seems to be good at both. He seems to be able to climb really well and be able to plug along.”
A peek at Padun’s palmarès confirms that he is undoubtedly a strong stage racer. This year he won the final two stages at the Dauphine and placed third overall at the Vuelta a Burgos. “After one week or ten days, I still enjoy racing,” Padun says. “It’s not that I don’t like one day races but I like stage races much better. You can always try to be there battling for a result. I’m not a pure climber. I’m quite a heavy guy but most of my success I obtained by climbing.”
Looking to next season, Padun is thrilled to join EF. “This is the right team for me. When Vaughters spoke to me, I really was quite excited because I have never before heard the management of any team tell me such detailed things of what he believes I can do. It makes me believe. When I had this opportunity to join EF, I was quite happy and I didn’t have to think too long.”
Welcome to the team, Mark. We see great success in store for 2022.
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
Young riders Dries De Pooter (19) and Madis Mihkels (18) have chosen to spend their future with Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux in 2023 and 2024. Before making their professional debut, both young talents will respectively ride in the colors of Hagens Berman Axeon and Team Ampler – Tartu2024 in 2022 and join the World Team as trainees in August after having spent the beginning of the season in two Continental development teams.
Dries De Pooter, Belgian champion in the junior category in 2020, was one of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert’s trainees in 2021. During this successful experience he had an important share in Danny van Poppel’s victory in the Egmont Cycling Race in August and raced alongside his leaders in the finals of the Primus Classic and the GP de Wallonie. During his first season in the U23 category, he finished 4th at the Belgian U23 championships, 13th in the GP Jef Scherens, 7th in the Ster van Zwolle and achieved several good results at the prestigious Course de la Paix. The rider of Geel first hopes to shine in the colors of American team Hagens Berman Axeon directed by Axel Merckx before joining the World Tour peloton with the team of Jean-François Bourlart.
In September, Estonian rider Madis Mihkels won the bronze medal at the Junior World Championships in Leuven by winning the sprint of the peloton. In this way he confirmed that he is one of the best riders of his generation, after his 7th place at the difficult European Championships in Trente two weeks before and his two sprint victories in the nations cup in Hungary. In 2021, he also won the junior national titles in both the time trial and the road race. The 18 year old rider will become the second Estonian rider to wear the jersey of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, after Rein Taaramäe.
“After my Belgian title in the junior category, I made big steps forward thanks to my trainer Ioannis Tamouridis and the people surrounding me. The opportunity to become a trainee with Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert was a real honor for me. I’m very proud about what we achieved during this period, of course I’m thinking about the victory at the Egmont Cycling Race. I already learned a lot about the professionalism of the team, about the fact that not one single detail is left to chance, for example concerning equipment or nutrition. In addition, the relaxed atmosphere reigning in the team makes me feel very comfortable. I am very motivated for 2022, I want to win races and become stronger physically before pinning my next race numbers on my Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert shirt. I’m very ambitious and I’m convinced that I will receive the opportunity to realize my dreams within this team.” - Dries De Pooter
“I’m very proud to join the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert project. During my years as a junior I didn’t receive many opportunities to prove myself because of the pandemic, but my performance at the World Championships in Leuven enabled me to show what I’m capable of. The first contacts with the team immediately confirmed the friendly atmosphere for which it is known. Together we decided that the best option for me would be to continue my development in 2022 in the U23 category, and meanwhile participate to the training camps of the World Team. It is a fantastic opportunity to be able to rely on the advice of Rein Taaramäe, a reference in my country. He is a great mentor and will help me, in addition to the performance staff, to learn step by step.” - Madis Mihkels
“With Dries De Pooter and Madis Mihkels we managed to add two talented young riders to our project. As a trainee in 2021, Dries made a good impression in the difficult Belgian classics. Madis excelled in physical tests last year and confirmed his talent at the European and World Championships. Their results show their capabilities and as we are following them for a long time already we are convinced that we can exploit their potential. We have proven last season that we are able to boost the progression of our riders, partly thanks to the perfect balance between focus on performance and family atmosphere.
“In order to enable them to step up to the World Tour in an optimal way, we created an adapted trajectory for them. We are convinced that the years in the U23 category are and stay precious for the progression of young talents. That’s why it is important that they continue in this category next season. We set up a close collaboration with their respective teams for 2022 in order to support both riders as good as possible and to facilitate their transition towards the World Tour. This collaboration exists of training, equipment, nutrition and the coordination of their race programs. Dries and Madis can also take benefit of the collective training camps and other team activities before finalizing their preparation on the highest cycling level as a trainee. This collaboration is unique for Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert and I’m proud about the work accomplished by all involved parties.” - Aike Visbeek (Performance Manager)
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