Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, November 25, 2021
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2021 Tour de France | 2021 Giro d'Italia
Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. - Theodore Roosevelt
Upcoming racing:
- Dec 5: Scheldecross Antwerp
- Dec 11: Ethiascross-Essen
- 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: Vuelta a San Juan
- Feb 12, 2022: Gavere Cyclocross
Latest completed racing:
- Nov 13: GP Leuven
- Nov 7: Elite Men European Cyclocross Championships
- Nov 6: Elite Women European Cyclocross Championships
- Nov 1: Koppenberg Cyclocross
- Oct 31: Vlaamse Druivenveldrit Overijse Cross
- Oct 24: Ronde van Drenthe
- Oct 23: Ruddervoorde Cyclocross
Les Woodland's book The Olympics' 50 Craziest Stories is available as an audiobook here.
The team sent me this:
Lotto Soudal rider Jasper De Buyst, still under contract until the end of 2022, has signed a new agreement which will see him stay at the team until the end of 2024. That way De Buyst, who celebrates his 28th birthday today, will be part of the team for ten seasons. In recent years, the Belgian has played a crucial part in the sprint train as lead-out of Caleb Ewan, but in the past Jasper also took home some nice victories himself like Binche-Chimay-Binche and a stage victory at the Tour of Denmark and Tour de Wallonie. Last weekend, De Buyst and teammate Roger Kluge finished runner-up at the Lotto Six Days Flanders-Ghent.
Jasper De Buyst wins stage three of the 2019 Tour of Denmark.
“This contract extension is a sign of mutual trust and respect and of course I am very happy with that”, said Jasper De Buyst. “At the end of this new contract, I will have been riding at the team for ten seasons, which is rather an exception in cycling. I think this says a lot about our nice collaboration during the past seven years. Lotto Soudal has become a real home and even though I am still 28, it feels like I am already part of the most experienced riders within the team.”
Also Lotto Soudal’s General Manager John Lelangue, is happy that Jasper De Buyst is staying at the team for at least three more seasons.
“Like in 2019, we extend Jasper his contract for the same length of time as Caleb Ewan’s. Jasper has been part of Lotto Soudal for seven years now and it was a priority to keep him on board. As one of the main guys in Caleb’s sprint train, Jasper has contributed to many victories and I am sure there are many more to follow in the coming years. In addition, we have signed some reinforcements for the sprint train with the likes of Jarrad Drizners, Michael Schwarzmann and Rüdiger Selig. We’ve done this to give riders like Jasper De Buyst a bit more freedom and a chance to pursue their own results as well. Jasper has already won some nice races in the past and also in one-day races such as the spring Classics, he is a real asset to the team.”
Jasper De Buyst already looks ahead to the next few years at Lotto Soudal.
“Of course, I will still give my all at the service of our sprinters the coming years. I’ve put aside my personal ambitions for several years now so it will be something of a test to try and go for some own results. In any case, it would be nice to be able to do a bit of both. Of course, I would like to win a few more races. Besides, at 28 I’m already considered as a road captain within the team, so I definitely feel like passing on my experience to the younger generation”, concludes Jasper De Buyst.
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Team BikeExchange sent me this news release:
Multiple New Zealand Champion Georgia Williams has signed on for the 2022 season with Team BikeExchange, her sixth year with the Australian outfit.
Georgia Williams racing in 2018.
The versatile rider is a Commonwealth Games Road Race silver medallist and brings an abundance of strength and experience to the squad, an important ingredient for the team during the lengthy WorldTour season.
After set-backs over the past couple of seasons with various injuries and illnesses, Team BikeExchange are confident that Williams can make it back to her best level and enjoy an uninterrupted season.
Brent Copeland, General Manager on Williams:
“Next year will be the sixth season for Georgia, she is one of the veterans of the women’s team now and we really count on her support on and off the bike. With all the changes we are going through next season, with many new riders joining Team BikeExchange, she will play an important role in showing the spirit of the team and way we work. We have confidence that we can truly rely on Georgia in many races throughout the year, it is great she will continue with us for 2022.”
Georgia Williams:
“I’m just as excited for this next season with the team as I was in my first, and I’m motivated to make the next one my best yet. I was happy with the first half of my season this year but then I had some bad luck during the last few months. I am hoping to come back stronger and looking forward to my pre-season build.
It’s exciting to be racing with new riders in 2022 which will mean slightly different race tactics for us and I think they will all be a great addition to the team and will lift us up to another level.”
Georgia Williams
Date of birth: 25th August 1993 (28)
Nationality: New Zealander
Joined Team BikeExchange: 2017
New Contract: 2022
Top Results:
1st 2018 & 2021 New Zealand Road Race Champion
1st 2018, 2018 & 2021 New Zealand Time Trial Champion
2nd 2018 Commonwealth Games Road Race
3rd 2018 Women’s Herald Sun Tour – stage 2 TT
4th 2018 Emakumeen Bira – Overall
4th 2018 Tour de Guangxi
5th 2018 Women Herald Sun Tour – overall
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Team DSM sent me this update:
Team DSM further strengthen across the board in two of their program's with today's announcement. Development Team DSM recruit Joost Brinkman as of next year, and after three great seasons in the Development program, Tim Naberman is now the twelfth rider to be promoted to the Men's program. He will be joined by the experienced Martijn Tusveld who extends with the team, alongside new Australian rider Sam Welsford. Tusveld is contracted for 2022, with Brinkman, Naberman and Welsford all to wear the team's jersey through 2023.
Joost Brinkman (NED):
A multi-discipline cyclist in his formative and junior years, Brinkman has competed on the road, cyclocross and mountain bike to multiple successes and strong results. A gold medallist in the Dutch junior mountain bike championships, Brinkman also has impressive results in cyclocross including a fifth place over the sand at Zonhoven as a first-year junior. 2021 has seen Brinkman focus more on the road where he’s taken several strong top tens; with a ninth and fifth place on GC at Ronde des Vallées Juniors and Course de la Paix Juniors respectively; finishing second on stage two in the latter. The powerfully built Dutchman’s season highlight came at the GP Bob Jungels where over the punchy and challenging course, he sprinted to an excellent win.
Tim Naberman (NED):
After three good years with Development Team DSM, Naberman continues his journey with the team in 2022 as he makes the step up to the Men's program. A strong rouleur and baroudeur, Naberman’s great attitude sees him fit in with the team well, often selflessly working on the front of the peloton to help the team’s finishers or going on the attack in breakaway days. Learning a lot from his time riding alongside the Men’s program riders already in tough Pro level races, Naberman aims to use that experience going forward with the team in the coming years.
Martijn Tusveld (NED):
Joining Team DSM in 2018, Tusveld has spent four good years with the team so far where his all-round capabilities have shown through; both in support of the team’s finishers or when he’s been the rider to go for a result. Strong-willed and determined, Tusveld fought back after a tough crash in Paris-Nice 2019, before going on to help the team claim a top ten finish in the Vuelta that year alongside a solid tenth on GC himself at the Tour of Guangxi. 2020 saw Tusveld’s development continue where he played an important part in the team’s double GC podium finish at the Giro d’Italia, and that trajectory continued in 2021 with more strong rides in support at the Vuelta a España, plus the KOM jersey win at Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var.
Martijn Tusveld racing in the 2021 Tour des Alpes Maritimes. Sirotti photo
Sam Welsford (AUS):
Combining track and road in recent years, 25-year-old Welsford has tasted success in both disciplines throughout his career so far. The 2020 Australian criterium champion has taken several wins and strong results while racing Down Under, alongside other great results in kermesses during his brief stints racing in Europe. It is on the boards where Welsford has been the most prodigious though, adorning the rainbow bands after success in the men’s team pursuit at the 2016, 2017 and 2019 track world championships: with the Australian also winning the scratch race in 2019 too. Looking ahead to his first season with Team DSM, Welsford will switch his focus fully to road racing.
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