Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Saturday, November 2, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. - Henry David Thoreau
Les Woodland's book Cycling Heroes: The Golden Years is available in the print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- November 3: European Cyclocross Championships
- November 17: Flandriencross
Latest completed racing:
- November 1: X20 Trofee Oudenaarde-Koppenbergcross
- October 27: Superprestige Overijse-Vlaamse Druivencross
- October 15 - 20: Tour of Guangxi
- October 20: Japan Cup Road Race
- October 20: Veneto Classic
- October 16: Giro del Veneto
- October 13: Chrono des Nations
- October 12: Il Lombardia
- October 10: Gran Piemonte
- October 8: Tre Valli Varesine
Here’s the team’s announcement:
The INEOS Grenadiers are pleased to announce that Australian climber Lucas Hamilton will join the team for the 2025 season.
The 28 year old has ridden at World Tour level for seven seasons which includes victory at Coppi e Bartali, stage wins at Tirreno-Adriatico and Czech Cycling Tour as well as a fourth-place finish overall at Paris-Nice in 2021.
Lucas Hamilton wins 2020 Tirreno Adriatico stage 4. Sirotti photo
“I’m incredibly excited to join the INEOS Grenadiers. For many years I have watched the team’s success from the outside, and I’ve always held a deep respect for their achievements,” Hamilton said.
“Being a part of such a prestigious organization is a great opportunity for me and I look forward to contributing to the team’s ongoing success. I can’t wait to get started and work alongside my new teammates!”
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Scott Drawer, Performance Director, added: “Lucas has shown what he can do in the past and we believe in his talent and potential as a bike rider. He will fit in well with his fellow riders and we are confident he will respond to the support we put around him with our new coaching and performance set up.”
“A big part of what we’re working towards is not only strengthening our rider roster but also entrenching a new approach within the team. Lucas’ experience across a wide variety of races means that he slots into an important area for us where he will also be able to support our impressive crop of young and emerging talent.”
The team is also now pleased to confirm the appointment of Dr. Billy Fitton in the role of Head of Engineering and Technology. He will lead the team’s equipment testing and rider-technology integration through modelling and simulation approaches.
Fitton’s most recently been involved in a senior capacity at British Cycling where he covered several roles, and which culminated in the recently completed Paris Olympics and World Track Championships in Ballerup.
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Here’s the team’s news:
Alex Baudin won the Tour de Limousin this year, finished second at the Coppa Bernocchi, and came third on GC at the Tour of Guangxi, but the 23-year-old from the French Alps says that his most memorable ride is still a month-long bikepacking adventure he took across Europe.
He is going to fit right in at EF Education-EasyPost. Starting next season, Alex is going to race in EF pink.
Alex Baudin wins stage two of the 2024 Tour de Limousin.
“It is really exciting to join such an international team,” Alex says. “This is something I have always wanted to do and I think this is the right time to do it. It is really important to get out of your comfort zone and get to know new people, new cultures, new everything. That is what I like in life. That's why I wanted to join EF Education-EasyPost. I'm still young, and I'm really, really excited.”
Alex has wanted to be a bike racer ever since he was a child. He first fell in love with cycling when he was four years old. His dad was a racer and would take him up into the mountains to watch the Tour de France whenever the race neared their Albertville home. Alex was soon tearing up climbs like the Cormet de Roselend with his father, emulating the heroes he’d seen attacking through the colorful crowds. His dad was his first coach and had to tell him to slow down.
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“I started racing with a local club when I was four and never stopped,” Alex says. “My dad bought me a bike and then it was on. From the start, I did well, because there were not a lot of kids, but my father always told me to take it easy in training. Later, when I was a U17, I struggled, because I wasn't training as hard as the others. But my dad always told me that I had the time and should wait to push. When I was U19, I started to train a bit more and got results. My father guided me to the pros. When I signed my first contract two years ago, it was a dream for me.”
Alex’s dreams didn’t stop there. His greatest ambition is still the same one he has harbored ever since he first saw the Tour: he wants to win a stage. He believes he has the skills to do it and much more besides.
Alex is a punchy climber, who excels at sustained, explosive efforts like the Ardennes classics demand. His favorite race that he has done so far is the Clásica de San Sebastián. He also likes the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal and Québec, because his uncles, who now live in Canada, can come to cheer.
But Alex always returns home to the Alps.
“I live in Aix-les-Bains, near Chambéry,” Alex says. “It's not far from Albertville and I still see my family quite often. The Alps are the perfect place to ride bikes. Growing up here made me want to be a climber. It’s a really beautiful place with a lot of roads to ride. You can enjoy the mountains and ski in the winter.”
As soon as snow falls, Alex heads to his local cross-country trails. Gliding across alpine meadows and through forests is a great way for him to build his fitness and get away from it all.
“It’s a good fit with cycling for the winter preparation,” Alex says. “I really enjoy it. I’ll go alpine skiing a couple times a year when the snow is good too, but it’s risky. Cross-country, I might get out 20 or 25 times during the winter, depending on conditions and when I’m away for training camps.”
To fuel all his time outside, Alex also loves to cook. His favorite meal is a local speciality: croziflette, a cheesy, bacon-y gratin made with crozets, a small, square pasta from the Alps, which he saves for the off-season. Croziflette season is almost done.
Alex is already thinking about the racing year ahead. He wants to fly in his first year in pink.
“I want to get to know more about cycling and about myself and my limits,” he says. “I love exploring on my bike and meeting new people.”
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