ef education first tour de france 2022

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EF Education complete Tour de France startlist with stage-hunting squad

EF Education-EasyPost were, as traditionally, the last team to announce their Tour de France lineup, having revealed eight riders that will be fighting for stage wins across the three weeks on multiple terrains.

Starting with Stefan Bissegger who will be one of the main contenders for the opening time-trial and yellow jersey. The Swiss will also be a threat in the rolling stages if in breakaways, alongside Jonas Rutsch and Owain Doull who can also take up the task of protecting Rigoberto Urán in the flat stages in case the Colombian heads for a general classification assault.

FINAL | Tour de France 2022 Team Index - Follow lineup announcement of every team

Urán has not had an easy season, with little results to hint at a danger for the GC. Most likely he will be going for stage wins in the mountains, alongside Ruben Guerreiro the recent winner of the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge.

The team is then completed by three riders who are brilliant options for the hilly days. One in Neilson Powless who just came off an impressive Tour de Suisse where he finished fourth in the overall classification; other is Alberto Bettiol who finally showed his form in Suisse and will be eyeing breakaways and the cobbled stage; and finally there is Magnus Cort Nielsen who is not only a threat for breakaways on such stages, also the hard sprint days will see him as a valid option for a stage win.

Preview: Tour de France. World's best climbers and sprinters go head to head in a seasonal climax

EF Education-EasyPost for Tour de France: Alberto Bettiol, Ruben Guerreiro, Stefan Bissegger, Neilson Powless, Magnus Cort Nielsen, Jonas Rutsch, Owain Doull and Rigoberto Urán.

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Tour de France 2022: full team-by-team guide

Our in-depth look at every team, the main riders to watch and the cast of characters racing through France this summer

• Tour de France: stage-by-stage guide

Ag2R Citroën

Stalwart French battlers celebrated for wearing brown shorts who hired a host of multinational talent after their stalwart Romain Bardet left for DSM. This paid off last year when Ben O’Connor won the stage to Tignes and placed fourth overall. Behind the Aussie, however, they lack strength in depth.

Team Geoffrey Bouchard, Mikaël Cherel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Stan Dewulf, Bob Jungels, Oliver Naesen, Ben O’Connor, Aurélien Paret-Peintre.

Main man Ben O’Connor – talented climber who must prove last year’s fourth was no fluke.

Alpecin-Deceuninck

Second-division Dutch squad who punch far above their budget, thanks to the no-holds-barred racing style of Mathieu van der Poel, the most popular cyclist on the circuit. They won two of the first three stages and held the yellow jersey in 2021; this year, they bring sprinter Jasper Philipsen alongside MVDP.

Team Mathieu van der Poel, Silvan Dillier, Michael Gogl, Alexander Krieger, Jasper Philipsen, Edward Planckaert, Kristian Sbaragli, Guillaume van Keirsbulck.

Main man Mathieu van der Poel – a stage win and yellow last year. Great things expected 12 months on.

Arkéa-Samsic

This French division two team has plenty of potential for a stage win, with the former King of the Mountains Warren Barguil, the evergreen Colombian champion Nairo Quintana and the Belgian sprinter Amaury Capiot. The British strongman Connor Swift will support his leaders on the flat and probably infiltrate a break somewhere in his own right.

Team Warren Barguil, Maxime Bouet, Amaury Capiot, Hugo Hofstetter, Matîs Louvel, Lukasz Owsian, Nairo Quintana, Connor Swift.

Main man Nairo Quintana – the 2015 Giro winner is long in the tooth but can still shine in the mountains.

Astana Qazaqstan

The squad flying the Kazakh flag produced one of the worst team raps ever over the winter, and changed the spelling of its name by substituting Qs for Ks. That’s as exciting as this squad gets; they will figure in breaks and hope for a stage win from Joe Dombrowski or Alexey Lutsenko but don’t expect any drama.

Team Joe Dombrowski, Fabio Felline, Dimitri Gruzdev, Alexei Lutsenko, Gianni Moscon, Alexei Riabushenko, Simone Velasco, Andrey Zeits.

Main man Alexey Lutsenko – the Kazakh came a stealthy seventh last year and could make the top 10 again.

Bahrain Victorious

Several potential stage winners here – Damiano Caruso, Jack Haig, Matej Mohoric, Dylan Teuns and Fred Wright – but the big question is whether Caruso can replicate his form at last year’s Giro, where he came second and won a stage. Haig is a talented climber, while Mohoric and Teuns have landed Tour stages in the past, and Wright is due a major win.

Team Damiano Caruso, Kamil Gradek, Jack Haig, Matej Mohoric, Luis León Sánchez, Dylan Teuns, Jan Tratnik, Fred Wright.

Main man Damiano Caruso – consistent Italian climber who finished second in last year’s Giro d’Italia, and 10th in the 2020 Tour.

B&B Hotels-KTM

Flyweight French team whose poor results this season earned them the hairdryer treatment from management recently. That doesn’t bode well for the Tour, where they will figure in breaks and vie for the mountains prize when the big boys aren’t too bothered. A stage win would be a miracle but the race visits Lourdes so they can hope.

Team Cyril Barthe, Franck Bonnamour, Alexis Gougeard, Jérémy Lecroq, Cyril Lemoine, Luca Mozzato, Pierre Rolland, Sebastian Schönberger.

Main man Pierre Rolland. Ageing climber and non-stop attacker who is in decent form and will target the mountains prize.

BikeExchange-Jayco

Australian flagship deep in the WorldTour relegation quagmire, and without top climber Simon Yates. If Dylan Groenewegen can secure a fifth career stage win in a sprint and Michael Matthews gets moving in the hills, they are looking at a good Tour. If either of the pair has issues, however, there is little firepower to fall back on.

Team Jack Bauer, Luke Durbridge, Dylan Groenewegen, Amund Grøndahl Jansen, Christopher Juul Jensen, Michael Matthews, Luka Mezgec, Nick Schultz.

Main man Dylan Groenewegen – Dutch sprinter back from a ban in 2020-21, now flat stage favourite.

Bora-Hansgrohe

Last-minute decision to drop the former green jersey winner Sam Bennett in favour of a full-on GC challenge with dark horse Russian Aleksandr Vlasov – riding the Tour as a neutral – has raised eyebrows, especially as Vlasov is getting over Covid. The decision is inspired by Bora’s perfectly calculated Giro win with Jai Hindley; they are thinking medium term about preparing to launch the Aussie on the Tour. Schachmann, Konrad and Kämna are all capable of stage wins as well as support roles.

Team Marco Haller, Lennard Kämna, Patrick Konrad, Felix Großschartner, Nils Politt, Max Schachmann, Danny van Poppel, Aleksandr Vlasov.

Main man Aleksandr Vlasov. Winner of the Tours of Valencia and Romandie this season, and could well have won Switzerland had he stayed Covid free.

Guillaume Martin is a potential top 10 finisher, while there are several outside hopes for stage wins – Lafay, Thomas, Walscheid – even with Bryan Coquard out due to Covid. Plenty of individual talent for the flat and the mountains but it will take careful management to ensure they work in unison. If there isn’t goal clarity and role clarity, it could all get rather tense.

Team Pierre-Luc Périchon, Simon Geschke, Ion Izagirre, Victor Lafay, Guillaume Martin, Anthony Perez, Benjamin Thomas, Max Walscheid.

Main man Guillaume Martin – consistent French climber who now needs to make the jump from top 10 to top six.

The German team shone in 2020 with three stage wins but fell apart in 2021. Their best chance for a stage win is Romain Bardet, who was a contender in the Giro but dropped out with illness. They have a strong lineup behind the Frenchman, so will target their days and try to ensure they get several riders in the key moves.

Team Romain Bardet, Alberto Dainese, John Degenkolb, Nils Eekhoff, Chris Hamilton, Andreas Leknessund, Martijn Tusvveld, Kevin Vermaerke.

Main man Romain Bardet – French former podium finisher back to his best and looking for a stage.

EF Education-EasyPost

Multiple stage win hopes for America’s finest, beginning on Friday with time trialist Stephen Bissegger. Rigoberto Urán’s past Grand Tour record makes him the nominal leader but Powless is the man in form. Cort nailed three stages in the Vuelta last year while past Giro stage winners Guerriero and Bettiol could also get their chance.

Team Alberto Bettiol, Stephen Bissegger, Magnus Cort, Owain Doull, Ruben Guerriero, Neilson Powless, Jonas Rutsch, Rigoberto Urán.

Main man Rigoberto Urán – it’s five years since the Colombian finished second in the Tour; a stage win will suffice.

Groupama-FDJ

Uber French team run by mercurial Marc Madiot have sidelined sprinter Arnaud Démare and pinned their hopes on young climber David Gaudu backed by the fragile but talented Thibaut Pinot. Half of France will reckon this is a cunning plan to take the pressure off Pinot, finally back at the Tour after a nightmare in 2020.

Team Antoine Duchesne, David Gaudu, Kevin Geniets, Olivier le Gac, Stefan Küng, Valentin Madouas, Thibaut Pinot, Michael Storer.

Main man David Gaudu – supported Pinot in 2019 and finally gets his chance.

Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert

Belgian squad that has progressed from plucky underdogs to mid-table contenders in four Tours. Quadruple sprint stage winner Kristoff will relish stage two if the wind howls out of the north, while Meintjes has the climbing ability to finish in the top 10 and Van der Hoorn can win out of a break.

Team Sven-Erik Bystrøm, Kobe Goossens, Alexander Kristoff, Louis Meintjes, Andrea Pasqualon, Adrien Petit, Taco van der Hoorn, Georg Zimmerman.

Main man Alexander Kristoff – veteran Norwegian sprinter at his best on tough windy days.

Ineos Grenadiers

Big budget, big ambitions, but it’s hard to see them winning the Tour this year. Their three leaders, Geraint Thomas, Dani Martínez and Adam Yates, are all strong and talented but none of them is a match for Pogacar head to head. They need to catch the Slovenian napping, using their biggest asset – the incredible talent supporting the lead trio. Riders like Filippo Ganna, Tom Pidcock and Dylan Van Baarle can turn the race on its head if brought into play at the right moment.

Team Jonathan Castroviejo, Filippo Ganna, Dani Martínez, Tom Pidcock, Luke Rowe, Geraint Thomas, Dylan van Baarle, Adam Yates.

Main man Geraint Thomas – the last chance for the Welshman but age is not on his side.

Israel-Premier Tech

A stage-hunting lineup for the hilly days, headed by Danish Classic winner Jakob Fuglsang and Canadian mountain man Michael Woods; the others will be tasked with showing their faces in the breaks when they can, while four-times winner Chris Froome’s potential as he rebuilds after his serious crash in 2019 is impossible to read.

Team Simon Clarke, Chris Froome, Jakob Fuglsang, Guillaume Boivin, Hugo Houle, Guy Niv, Krists Neilands, Michael Woods.

Main man Michael Woods – winner of the Route d’Occitanie in mid-June which bodes well for both GC and stages.

Jumbo-Visma

The strongest team in the Tour. They have a host of potential stage winners, the strongest all rounder in the world in Wout van Aert – winner of three stages last year – and two overall contenders in Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard, who came second in 2021 after Roglic crashed out of the race. Can the Jumbo juggernaut flatten Pogacar? Perhaps, but only if all the key men stay in one piece and everyone plays the team game to perfection.

Team Tiesj Benoot, Steven Kruijswijk, Sepp Kuss, Christophe Laporte, Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert, Nathan van Hooydonck.

Main man Primoz Roglic – Time is running out for Slovenia’s No 2 to finally win the Tour.

Lotto Soudal

The Belgian squad is heavily involved in the relegation battle, they need sprinter Caleb Ewan to add at least a sixth Tour stage to his tally, preferably more. If he flops, Philippe Gilbert remains talented in spite of his advanced age, while Andreas Kron can finish in the top 15. Realistically though, it’s Ewan or the void.

Team Caleb Ewan, Frederik Frison, Philippe Gilbert, Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, Andreas Kron, Brent van Moer, Florian Vermeersch, Tim Wellens.

Main man Caleb Ewan – accident-prone Australian who can deliver multiple stages if he stays upright.

Past flirtations with multiple leaders have never worked so Spain’s finest are focussed on one man, Enric Mas, who looks to improve on his fifth and sixth places in 2020 and 2021. It’s hard to see him getting near Pogacar, but if he survives the first five days he will fancy his chances for the podium.

Team Imanol Erviti, Gorka Izagirre, Matteo Jorgenson, Enric Mas, Gregor Mühlberger, Nelson Oliveira, Albert Torres, Carlos Verona.

Main man Enric Mas. Young Spaniard with a good deal to do to match Movistar’s stars of the past.

Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl

Eyebrows were raised when Mark Cavendish was refused the chance to break Eddy Merckx’s Tour stage win record, in favour of young Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen, the team’s man for the long(er) term. World champion Julian Alaphilippe didn’t make the cut as he is short of fitness following a serious crash, while French champion Florian Sénéchal was called in late for “Tractor” Tim Declercq. Apart from Jakobsen, Italian Mattia Cattaneo will want to build on his 12 th place overall of last year.

Team Kasper Asgreen, Andrea Bagioli, Mattia Cattaneo, Yves Lampaert, Mikkel Honoré, Fabio Jakobsen, Michael Mørkøv, Florian Sénéchal.

Main man Fabio Jakobsen. Dutch sprinter back after a life-threatening crash who is making his Tour debut.

TotalEnergies

The marquee signing Peter Sagan started winning again this June which will have put team manager Jean-René Bernaudeau’s mind at rest. The multiple world champion and Tour points winner will have strong backing from the likes of Daniel Oss, Maciej Bodnar and Anthony Turgis, and if Sagan crosses the line first even once at the Tour, JRB’s decision to splash the cash will be justified.

Team Edvald Boasson Hagen, Maciej Bodnar, Mathieu Burgaudeau, Pierre Latour, Daniel Oss, Peter Sagan, Anthony Turgis, Alexis Vuillermoz.

Main man Peter Sagan – ageing Slovak superstar who may be coming to form at just the right time.

Trek-Segafredo

A multinational multitalented squad, headed by strong Dutchman Bauke Mollema, who climbs like a nodding dog but is a reliable stage winner. Mads Pedersen will figure in the sprints, Jasper Stuyven, Toms Skuijns and Giulio Ciccone are strong riders for a break, while the young American Quinn Simmons is capable of pretty much anything on any terrain.

Team Giulio Ciccone, Tony Gallopin, Alex Kirsch, Bauke Mollema, Mads Pedersen, Quinn Simmons, Toms Skuijns, Jasper Stuyven.

Main man Bauke Mollema – a seasoned, cunning stage hunter who will have chances aplenty in the hills.

UAE Team Emirates

There has been serious investment since Pogacar won his first Tour in 2020 and UAE can now field a team that’s stronger than Ineos, and only behind Jumbo-Visma because they are focused on one individual while the Dutch have three leaders. George Bennett, Rafal Majka, Marc Soler and Brandon McNulty will be a force in the mountains while Marc Bjerg, Marc Hirschi and Vegard Stake Laengen can shepherd the young prodigy on the flat. If they all stay healthy, “Pog” has every chance of sweeping to his third Tour win.

Team George Bennett, Mikkel Bjerg, Marc Hirschi, Vegard Stake Laengen, Rafal Majka, Brandon McNulty, Tadej Pogacar, Marc Soler.

Main man Tadej Pogacar. Flying Slovenian who is hot favourite for a Tour hat-trick at just 23.

The relegation issue

With only the best 18 teams in the UCI’s rankings set to receive a coveted WorldTour licence in 2023 – guaranteeing them entry to major races including the Tour – a raft of squads will start this year’s Tour knowing that a good race will save their bacon and a poor Tour could mean disaster. As of 21 June, there were six teams involved in cycling’s first relegation battle: Israel-Premier Tech, Lotto Soudal, BikeExchange, EF Education, Movistar and Cofidis; Lotto Soudal and Israel-Premier Tech were in the “relegation zone” in 19th and 20th place.

With, for example, 125 points available for 12th overall in the Tour, that could mean in the final week of the race teams may start to become more interested in consolidating their position in the UCI’s team rankings, to guarantee they take home a certain number of points, than in taking risks which might compromise their future. That in turn could make for more conservative racing. What’s certain is that it will be weighing on many minds and putting pressure on riders and management alike.

* This article was amended on 30 June to reflect Alpecin-Fenix’s name change to Alpecin-Deceuninck

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The CEO of an 'experiential education' company explains why he bought one of America's top Tour de France teams and why a YouTube video will never replace real travel

LES HERBIERS, France — Last August we reported that one of the US's top pro cycling teams was in danger of folding unless it came up with $7 million within a week, which was kind of crazy considering its star rider had just finished second in the world's preeminent bicycle race. It wasn't fake news, though: Without the extra dough, team boss Jonathan Vaughters said, it really would've shut down.

But as The Wall Street Journal reported in early September, the green came , and with it not just a big new sponsor but a new owner, one that many American cycling fans had never heard of: EF Education First .

EF is a privately owned company that calls itself " the world leader in international education ." It was founded in 1965, in Lund, Sweden, and today it has 580 schools and offices in 52 countries. Think of it as the biggest education-travel company you've never heard of until now.

Recently at the Tour de France , CEO Edward Hult spoke with Business Insider about why EF bought a cycling team, why he's not losing sleep over the sport's rampant-doping past, and why a YouTube video can only show you so much about the world.

Interview condensed and edited for clarity.

Daniel McMahon: We're sitting here at the Tour, which is viewed by hundreds of thousands on the roadside and millions more on TV worldwide. This year your company, EF, not only took on title sponsorship of the Cannondale-Drapac team but bought the naming rights. Yet before that I'd never heard of EF, as I presume was the case for many Americans. In your words, what is EF Education First?

Edward Hult: We're experiential education. We're about teaching people different cultures and getting people exposure to different beliefs and different ways of looking at things. We do that through language, we do that through travel, and we do it through cultural-exchange programs, and even some academic programs. We try to incorporate an educational component and a cultural-education component, so a travel component that has some sort of cultural exchange to it, as well as education. Education can be language training, it can be about the cultures, or it can be formal degree programs.

McMahon: So it's like curated travel for people who want to learn a language.

Hult: Yes, it's mostly curated. We try to make it experiential because the last thing we want to do is bring people abroad and stand there and lecture at them. You can take a lecture anywhere. So it's really like, let's get them out there, let's make it a safe environment, but get them to experience the countries and the places they go to.

McMahon: So if I wanted to travel in, say, Asia and learn a language there, can I do it short term and long term?

Hult: Yes. You can enroll for a week; you can enroll for a year. You can travel, and in some places we have local schools. We encourage you, if you can, to take the travel ones, because it's always better to learn a language immersed in it, I believe. We also have online English training.

McMahon: How did the company get started?

Hult: The very first product we had was taking mainly high-school kids from Sweden during their summer break to study English in the UK. That was EF day one. And that really came about because of my father. I'm dyslexic, and he's very dyslexic. He struggled in school, and then he worked as a mail-delivery boy at a bank in the UK for a summer, and that's where his English really got better. And he was like, "Wow, it was so much easier learning English that way."

McMahon: So what are some of EF's most popular programs today?

Hult: It depends on where you are in the world. You can go to Asia, as you said, for instance, where we have a lot of local language schools. In Europe it's mainly language travel, so you travel to the country and study. And in North America it's mainly what we call some of our tours business, which is you go on a tour and we show you part of the world for a week or two. And then we've got a high-school program. We're associated with the Hult International Business School. And then we've got the high-school exchange and the au pair program.

So it really depends on where you are and what you're looking for, but if you take the tours business — what I operationally oversee day to day — our most popular tours are London, Paris, and Rome, and you do that for 11 days. For many of our travelers, they've never been outside of their own town before, so for them it's huge.

You know, a couple of years ago I was on a tour, and London was the first day. Everyone arrived, and it was five different groups from five parts of the US, small towns of just a few thousand people, and almost none of them had been outside their town before. So for them to come to London and go on a subway and see all the people — and when we got to Paris they had gained confidence, and the students were running around: "We want to go there!" "We want to see that!" And you see it over the 11 days how it transforms the kids and their confidence level and just their understanding of things.

McMahon: Who are your competitors?

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Hult: EF in itself as a global company doesn't really have a direct competitor, but within the products there are tons of competitors. If you take EF Go Ahead Tours , it has a lot of competitors — Trafalgar, for example. Then there's a lot of local language training in different countries.

But generally I think competition is healthy. I'm quite competitive, so it makes it kind of fun. And if companies didn't have competitors you'd all get fat and lazy, and the consumer would end up on the losing side even more, because then you have higher costs and poor service, where if you have competitors you keep your products and your services top notch, and that's what you should be providing. And that's how we're going to have any sort of impact — not through crappy services. You're going to have an impact by having great services.

McMahon: So why buy a pro cycling team?

Hult: Well, for one, cycling is awesome. But it really sort of started a couple of years ago, with me and my oldest brother, who works in the London office.

EF has generally been bad at PR and brand awareness. We grew up being really strong at sales, and sales have been the driver of how we built EF from the ground. We've done very little marketing and almost no PR and no branding. So as we keep growing, we keep hearing we're the best-kept secret and that no one knows who we are, though we're around the world. And so me and my brother started talking about it. "Should we try to do a global sort of brand campaign?" And so we started looking into it because we thought it might be worth a try, to see if we could become a little bit more known for everything we do.

So we started looking into media agencies. But if you want to do a global brand campaign, one, it's super expensive, and, two, there are a lot of really good media agencies that specialize within just one or a few countries. We were struggling to find ones that were really good globally. And while we were looking we heard about this cycling team that was about to fold. At first we didn't think twice about it.

The thing is, I'm very passionate about cycling, but I don't follow pro cycling. I love riding a bike — I do amateur events. But if you asked me who all the pro riders were before we got involved, I wouldn't have been able to tell you anyone. But we started looking more closely, and it kind of hit us that there's this group of people from diverse countries and diverse backgrounds who are all coming together, working hard together for a common goal on a global stage. And we were thinking that that, in itself, is a little of what EF is all about too. It's about bringing different cultures together, solving problems, world issues.

A lot of our programs will bring different cultures together to look at problems and get the idea generation you get from different cultures when they share their backgrounds and how to approach it. It's pretty cool. And so here is this pro cycling team that's doing that, and they're being seen and they're being viewed by the world. And while I do understand it's a cycling-fan-based world, cycling is also a really popular sport, especially in Europe, but even more so in other countries.

And so we're like, "Could this be our branding campaign? Instead of a media agency, could we actually use this cycling team? Because they're kind of representing what EF is trying to do." And so we started looking more into it. We also looked at the current sponsors of the team, and we realized, for instance, that it was Drapac, which emphasizes education for the riders, and EF is all about education. There was [the helmet maker] POC, which is all about safety, and Cannondale, which prides itself on being innovative. Our whole big thing is getting out there to the masses. We felt if we do this right, this could actually be really cool.

So not only was this marketing thing going on, there was this whole cycling spirit that we believe in, with bringing all these different cultures together, working together. And it's a really nice way to unite staff around the globe, to cheer on this team and make them be proud of this team.

McMahon: And so even though cycling is cleaner today than it has been in the past, given its history of rampant doping, did you have concerns about the sport's integrity?

Hult: Yes, of course. Natural hesitations there. We clearly had zero tolerance for this, but one of the things that was attractive was Jonathan Vaughters' stance against this too. I think the way he's sort of spearheaded a lot of the internal stuff within cycling — trying to help clean it up — was quite inspirational. And it felt right; it felt like he's 100% on board that there's zero tolerance. And so we feel safe with him at the helm of the day-to-day operations. But yeah, we don't want to be involved in any of the dirty stuff.

Also, it gets easier to get sucked into that if everything is about winning. And of course winning is great, and it's a big plus, but for us that's really not the main objective. We see it as a big added bonus. But really it's about how do we get the message out there that these different people from different nationalities are coming together, working together, and then how can we get them involved in community events and cycling and things like that, rather than "We have to win at all costs." And of course we want to try to win — winning is great — but that's not the end-all, be-all for us by any means.

McMahon: What does EF's growth look like?

Hult: What we usually say is that we double about every five years sort of any way you measure it. There've been years we've taken big hits — 9/11 was an example of that. There was the oil crisis in the '70s, before my time, and that was a big hit as well. So then you sort of reset, and you keep building.

McMahon: How sensitive is EF's business to the global political climate, with things like Brexit and the current administration in the US?

Hult: It's not as sensitive as people think. People still want to learn. With technology you're somehow interacting on a global scale today even if you're not meaning to. We've found that people are still interested in learning about different cultures. They want to know. They want to get out there and see. Not 100% of the population, absolutely not, but a large, large part. Education will never go away. People are still going to need face-to-face stuff, to actually be able to talk to someone. But people are going to want to travel. They're going to want to see these cultures and meet different people and learn about how they see the world.

McMahon: What's the big thing you'd like people to know about EF?

Hult: If you're interested in learning something new about any culture or any people, or the history or arts, and you want to do it in an experiential way, that's what we provide — rather than reading about it or seeing it in a YouTube video. I love YouTube, but a video can only show so much. And not really until you're immersed within a situation can you have your biases and your truth challenged, where you feel you're challenging your own truths yourself, because you're learning and hearing something.

Watch: We went to the official Harry Potter tour in London where there's a huge animatronic spider and an incredibly detailed model of Hogwarts

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July 14, 2022

The Tour de France menu: what the riders eat

The Tour de France and fellow Grand Tours, the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, are uniquely demanding on the athletes, three weeks of intense racing requires specific nutrition to both fuel the riders, and help them to rest and recover.

Our EF Education-EasyPost team nutritionist, Will Girling, shared the team's menu for their first week of the 2022 Tour de France, an insight into the kind of foods that our riders use to power their extreme efforts, day after day.

Starting the day right, nutrition-wise, is extremely important for any bike race, especially one that lasts three weeks.

Riders take breakfast several hours before the stage starts, allowing plenty of time to digest their meal.

Cereals, oats, pancakes, rice, bread, and berries are on offer as well as eggs, avocados and high-protein yogurt. The focus for the riders, and the nutrition team, is on full plates, plenty of protein and loads of lower-fiber, easy-to-digest carbohydrates to maintain energy through the day without making them feel heavy or bloated. The riders can load their plates with foods they know will suit them well for the stage ahead, eating enough to make them comfortably full.

Sample plate:

- Sourdough pancakes: Our team chef often makes pancakes using a sourdough starter he keeps throughout the Tour in his catering truck. Topped with bananas and maple syrup.

- Omlets: Most of the riders take an omlet for breakfast, its a great source of protein and easy to digest. The riders have preferences on white to yolk ratio, fillings and how they are cooked. For example Rigoberto Uran takes 3 full eggs, salt, cooked ham and cheese, cooked medium rare. Alberto Bettiol takes 2 eggs, cooked medium, no pepper, sometimes a little ham & cheese.

- Steamed rice: Many riders opt for this as a carbohydrate source over toast, oats or cereals because it’s easy to digest and low in fiber. Some add a couple of fried eggs and avocado for a little fat and protein.

- Fresh juice: To keep fiber low, riders bypass smoothies and stick to freshly-pressed juices, blended by the team chef with the fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs. Carrot + ginger, or a green juice made with spinach, kale, kiwi, apple and cucumber are rider favorites for being packed with critical nutrients and minerals without the bulk of whole or raw vegetables.

-Coffee : Are you even a cyclist if you don't like coffee? Almost all of the team riders start their day with an espresso, it's not just a quick pick-me-up, caffeine has been shown to help with endurance efforts too.

As soon as the riders finish the race, recovery fuelling begins. Meals are prepared and waiting for them in the team bus as riders have about an hour to start replacing the glycogen stores necessary to start the next stage strong. These meals are full of easy-to-digest, low-salt, carbohydrate-rich foods.

- 
Fresh pasta with simple proteins : Pasta tossed with a simple sauce and protein - usually fresh chicken, is the ideal type of meal to replenish riders. The balance of carbohydrates and proteins are just what the body requires – no complicated flavor combinations, or processed proteins here, just simple good food to start the recovery process.

- Protein and carb-focused snacks: Various bars, yoghurts and shakes are available on the team bus for quick and effective refuelling.

Perhaps the most important meal of the day during the race, all the riders sit down together at the team hotel each night, as early as possible. The aim is to replenish their stores with plenty of time for digestion before getting a good sleep.

The dinner menu offers simple, fresh foods that are low in fiber, not too heavy but full of the carbohydrates, proteins and other nutrients needed to fuel the riders for the next day.

Unprocessed proteins are a must to boost recovery, along with soups, cooked vegetables and simple carbs. Cooked, easy to eat vegetables are included to provide micronutrients, while ensuring that riders have plenty of time to properly digest and eliminate the fiber before their systems are under the duress of the next stage.

Fresh pastas, noodles and rice with a light but flavor filled main course of steamed fish and roasted or grilled chicken for protein. If the riders have tackled a day in the mountains or if the day has been particularly grueling, a dessert is a sweet morale-boosting treat.

- Simply-prepared proteins : Grilled or roasted chicken or steamed fish with light fresh sauces. Processed meats are avoided for their high sodium content. Red meat is offered on rest days to help with recovery.

- Easy to digest carbohydrates : Options like rice, mashed potatoes or pasta are always available on the buffet table.

- Soup : There's always a fresh soup option on offer, these help with calming the digestive system, especially if a rider is struggling to eat. Soups are great for being low fiber while maintaining high vitamin and mineral intake.

- Steamed, grilled or roasted vegetables or a small salad : Larger salads can be very challenging to digest due to their high fiber content. Instead, riders load up on cooked vegetables or tender greens, easier to digest and assimilate but still packed full of nutrients. Beet salads are popular with the riders and nutrition team for their ability to reduce inflammation and boost recovery.

- For dessert : Nothing too heavy or full of overly processed sugars, fruit based desserts tend to be preferred. It's also a chance to get a little more protein in, with yogurt or crème fraîche on the side.

Here's EF Education-EasyPost's menu for the first week of the 2022 Tour de France.

Résultat et résumé : Tour des Flandres 2024

Dimanche 31 mars 2024 départ à 10h22 anvers - audenarde, 270.8 kms.

• afficher uniquement les temps forts (26)

Merci à toutes et à tous de nous avoir suivi pour la 108e édition du Tour des Flandres et la victoire de Mathieu Van der Poel. Rendez-vous dans une semaine pour Paris-Roubaix.

Un coureur français dans le Top 20

Valentin Madouas est le seul coureur français présent dans le Top 20. Il termine la course à la 16e place.

Le nouveau roi des Flandres

Mathieu van der poel en 2024.

C'est le 2e succès du Néerlandais en 2024. Il s'était déjà imposé sur l'E3 Saxo Classic.

Mathieu Van der Poel entre dans l'histoire

Le Néerlandais égale le record de victoires sur le Tour des Flandres. Avec ce troisième succès, il rejoint Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, Johan Museeuw, Eric Leman, Fiorenzo Magni, Achiel Buysse.

1er : Matthew Van der Poel 2e : Luca Mozzato à 1'02" 3e : Nils Politt à 1'02" 4e : Mikkel Bjerg à 1'02" 5e : Antonio Morgado à 1'02" 6e : Magnus Sheffield à 1'02" 7e : Oliver Naesen à 1'02" 8e : Dylan Teuns à 1'02" 9e : Alberto Bettiol à 1'02" 10e : Toms Skujins à à 1'02".

Michael Matthews est déclassé

Michael Matthews est déclassé, il n'a pas tenu sa ligne durant le sprint. Nils Politt monte sur le podium.

Mathieu Van der Poel remporte son 3e Tour des Flandres

Mathieu Van der Poel remporte le Tour des Flandres pour la 3e fois de sa carrière. Le champion du monde a attaqué à 45 kilomètres de l'arrivée, dans les passages vertigineux du Koppenberg. Derrière lui, la majorité des coureurs ont terminé l'ascension à pied. Au fil des kilomètres, l'écart s'est creusé et personne n'a revu le Néerlandais. Lucas Mozzato prend la deuxième place de la course et termine, pour la première fois de sa carrière, sur le podium d'un Monument. Pour Michael Matthews, c'est un deuxième podium en deux Monuments après sa 2e place sur Milan San-Remo.

Mathieu Van der Poel passe sous la flamme rouge

Mathieu Van der Poel vient de passer sous la flamme rouge.

Mathieu Van der Poel profite

Le champion du monde perd du temps au fil des kilomètres, mais il sait qu'il est le grand vainqueur de cette 108e édition du Tour des Flandres.

Changement de vélo pour Tiesj Benoot

Quel changement de vélo catastrophique pour Tiesj Benoot. Son équipe lui avait donné le vélo de Dylan Van Baarle, mais le champion des Pays-Bas est beaucoup plus grand que le Belge.

Un point sur la situation

Mathieu Van der Poel a 1'19" d'avance sur Alberto Bettiol et Dylan Teuns, et 1'33" d'avance sur Oliver Naesen, Magnus Sheffield et Michael Matthews. Luca Mozzato, Toms Skujins, Tim Wellens, Mikkel Bjerg, Antonio Morgado et Nils Politt ont 1'45" de retard.

4 UAE Team Emirates dans le groupe de contre

Tim Wellens, Mikkel Bjerg, Antonio Morgado et Nils Politt sont dans le groupe de contre.

Crevaison pour Tiesj Benoot

Tiesj Benoot crève au plus mauvais moment. La voiture de son équipe est assez loin, il dit certainement adieu à ses chances de podium.

Edition la plus rapide du Tour des Flandres ?

Pour l'instant, cette édition est la plus rapide de l'histoire du Tour des Flandres. La moyenne depuis le départ est 44,48 km/h alors que la moyenne record est de 44,08 km/h.

Mathieu Van der Poel a 1'36" d'avance sur Alberto Bettiol et Dylan Teuns, et 1'45" d'avance sur Oliver Naesen, Magnus Sheffield et Michael Matthews.

10 kilomètres de l'arrivée

Mathieu Van der Poel est à 10 kilomètres de la ligne d'arrivée à Audenarde.

Attaque de Michael Matthews

Le coureur australien se dresse sur les pédales au sommet du Paterberg. Oliver Naesen saute dans sa roue.

How to Watch the 2024 Tour of Flanders, the Second Monument of the Season

[table-of-contents] stripped

This season’s second Monument just might be the best.

The warm-up races with hard-to-say names concluded with Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen, which means it’s time for Belgium's biggest and one of the hardest races of the season: the Tour of Flanders, or as the locals call it, the Ronde van Vlaanderen.

First organized in 1913 to promote a sports newspaper and encourage regional pride in the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium, the Tour of Flanders is now known in Belgium as Vlaanderens Mooiste , the “most beautiful” race in the region (if you consider cobblestones, narrow roads, bad weather, and lots of climbs to be things of beauty).

Like many Monuments, the race has undergone many changes in its 107 editions, but its most famous characteristic has largely remained unchanged: its bergs , a relentless series of short, steep, and often cobbled climbs during the second half of the race. With roads barely wide enough for most cars to pass through, the peloton often looks like it’s preparing for a field sprint as teams try to position their riders at the front heading into these important tactical battlegrounds.

In the end, the race usually comes down to a vicious final circuit that includes six climbs and ends with the Oude Kwaremont (long and cobbled) and the Paterberg (steep and cobbled) before a fast ride to the finish in Oudenaarde.

It’s no surprise that the riders consider Flanders to be one of the hardest one-day races on the calendar. Its champions need to have strength, skill, experience, and a bit of luck to succeed. It can take years for riders to learn and master the roads, the terrain, and the weather (it’s spring in Belgium, after all).

Given the event’s complexity, Belgians have won more editions (69) of the men’s race than riders from any other nation. But that’s little consolation given that a Belgian hasn’t won the men’s race since 2017. And after home favorite Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) broke his collarbone in Dwars door Vlaanderen, that doesn’t look likely to change this year.

A women’s Tour of Flanders was added in 2004, and the Dutch have won 8 of its 20 editions. But Belgians have enjoyed more recent success in the women’s event, with Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) winning last year and the year before, the first woman to win back-to-back editions since Dutchwoman Mirjam Melchers won the race in 2005 and 2006.

With millions of spectators lining the course, and after weeks of anticipation, speculation, and scandals leading up to the event, the Tour of Flanders packs the drama of the Oscars, the excitement of the Tour de France , and the hype of the Super Bowl all into one single day. Here’s everything you need about de Ronde van Vlaanderen.

After last year’s race started in Bruges, this year’s 270K men’s event begins in Antwerp before heading south toward the hills of the Flemish Ardennes, a hilly region packed with short, steep (often cobbled) climbs which the locals call bergs . The first 100K of the race have been changed since the last time the race started in Antwerp. The organizers want to keep the riders on wider roads, to make the race safer.

But it’s not until the race passes through Oudenaarde (home to the Tour of Flanders Museum) that the action really begins, starting with the first of the event’s 17 climbs, the Oude Kwaremont. Long, steady, and cobbled, the Oude Kwaremont pulls the pin on the second half of the race, with the race’s 16 remaining climbs coming in quick succession over the Ronde’s final 136K.

The first big loop that the men will cover takes them over ten more climbs, including famous ascents like the Molenberg, the Berendries, and the Valkenburg. This circuit ends with an important trio of climbs, one of which will return at the end of the next loop to serve as the final three climbs of the race: the Kruisberg, the Oude Kwaremont (again), and the Paterberg.

This second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont is often one of the most intense moments of the race. The teams race hard into the base of it to position their captains at the front of the race to follow any accelerations that may occur. Splits are common here, and teams hoping to win the race will hope to have multiple riders in the front group by the time they hit the summit.

But the group could split again rather quickly, as the race heads right from the Kwaremont to the Paterberg, a shorter, steeper climb that’s perfect for sharper attacks. It was on this climb that Mathieu van der Poel pulled away to win last Friday’s E3 Saxo Classic.

The second and final circuit begins with arguably the most famous (and certainly the most brutal) climb in the entire race: the Koppenberg. Super-steep, cobbled, and narrow, this is where the race’s final phase begins. Riders who don’t hit the climb at the front of the peloton are often forced to get off their bikes and walk as the sudden deceleration caused by the abrupt change in terrain ripples backward through the pack. The race is essentially over for anyone who doesn’t make it over the top of this climb in the top 25.

After the Koppenberg, five bergs remain, and recent editions have seen race-winning attacks launched on just about all of them. Lately, it’s all come down to the final ascents of the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg, with special attention often given to the short stretch of rolling road in between as riders try and surprise their rivals while they recover from the Kwaremont and prepare for the Paterberg, the Ronde’s final climb.

From the top of the final ascent of the Paterberg, it’s only 13.2K to the finish line in Oudenaarde, a distance that several riders have covered alone in recent years. If there is a sprint, it will be between just a handful of classics specialists; the race is too hard to see a large group hit the finish line together.

The 156km women’s race begins and ends in Oudenaarde. The course resembles a mutated clover leaf, and the women’s peloton crosses twelve of the climbs and seven sectors of cobblestones from the men’s event, including–for the first time two years ago–the Koppenberg.

In fact, beginning with Koppenberg, the women’s and men’s final loops are identical, with five more climbs coming in quick succession and the Oude-Kwaremont and the Paterberg providing two final launchpads for riders hoping to escape and win the Flemish Monument.

How to Watch de Ronde van Vlaanderen

If you subscribed to FloBikes ($150/year or $30/month) before Ghent-Wevelgem or Dwars door Vlaanderen, then you’re all set to watch the Tour of Flanders. Both the men’s and women’s events will be available live and on-demand via FloBikes.com, the FloSports IOS app, and the FloSports app for Amazon FireTV, Roku, and Apple TV.

Clocks spring forward in Europe on Sunday, so fans on the east coast will be six hours behind the event’s local time. We’ll be up early to watch the men as they hit the Oude Kwaremont for the first time (about 7:30 a.m. EDT). If that’s too early for you, set an alarm for about 9:30 a.m. EDT, the second passage over the cobbled ascent and the moment when the race is expected to explode.

The men’s race should finish around 10:45 a.m. EDT, at which point the women (depending on their average speed) should be nearing or just over the Koppenberg. The women’s race should finish around 11:45 a.m. EDT, which means you’re in for at least 2+ hours of fantastic racing.

What Happened Last Year

After finishing fourth in 2022, Pogačar returned to the Ronde last year, dropping the rest of a dream breakaway of riders that included the Netherlands’ Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), and Denmark’s Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) on the last ascent of the Oude Kwaremont. The Slovenian rode along to the finish to become the third male rider in history–and the first since Belgian legend Eddy Merckx–to win the Tour de France and the Tour of Flanders.

But the Belgian fans didn’t go home unhappy. A little while after Pogačar crossed the finish line, home favorite Lotte Kopecky (SD-Worx) defended her title from 2022, capping off a true team effort in which she and the Netherlands’ Demi Vollering finished first and second.

Riders to Watch

Mathieu van der poel (alpecin-deceuninck).

With Pogačar not defending his title and van Aert breaking his collarbone and a few ribs in Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen, it looks as if this year’s Tour of Flanders is van der Poel’s race to lose.

Even before Wednesday’s high-speed crash, van der Poel was the top favorite. The Dutchman has won the Ronde twice and never finished worse than fourth in the five times he’s raced it. He’s again built the first part of his season around winning the Flemish Monument for a record-tying third time, and three race days into his spring he’s proven that he’s ready with a tenth-place finish in Milan-Sanremo, a dominating victory in last Friday’s E3 Saxo Bank Classic and a second-place finish in Sunday’s Ghent-Wevelgem. Anything less than a victory will be a major disappointment for the Dutchman and his team.

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)

Pedersen has a lot going for him in Sunday’s Tour of Flanders. He’s an experienced contender, having finished second in 2018 and third last year. He’s also the captain of Lidl-Trek, the strongest team in the classics peloton at the moment. But most importantly, he knows he can defeat van der Poel after beating the Dutchman in a two-up sprint to win Sunday’s Ghent-Wevelgem.

Now the bad news: the Dane went down in the crash that took out van Aert in Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen. He was able to get back on his bike and continue the race (he later DNFed), but his teammate, Belgium’s Jasper Stuyven, wasn’t as lucky. That’s a big loss for Lidl-Trek, Stuyven is a former Monument winner who has proven to be a valuable ally to the Dane so far this spring.

Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike)

Stranger things have happened, right? It’s been a nightmare couple of weeks for Visma-Lease a Bike’s classics squad as crashes and illnesses have gutted the team, forcing them to take a bit of a “last man standing” approach to Sunday’s Monument. Luckily, the last man standing at the moment is a pretty good one: American Matteo Jorgenson, who won Paris-Nice in early March and then Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen semi-classic.

With van Aert and several more of the team’s riders forced to sit out Sunday’s race, Jorgenson has clearly earned the right to lead the team instead. Ninth in Flanders last year, he also scored top-5 finishes in the last two editions of the E3 Saxo Classic, a mini-Tour of Flanders that many riders use as their Tour of Flanders dress rehearsal. He’s no Wout van Aert (yet), but he’s the team’s best rider at the moment and a solid contender to at least finish on the podium.

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime)

The two-time defending champion, Kopecky will likely be the focal point of an SD Worx-Protime squad that should also include the Netherlands’ Demi Vollering, who was second behind her teammate in last year’s edition.

Kopecky “only” finished fourth in Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen, as she found herself isolated and outnumbered in the leading group at the end of the semi-classic. But with two wins and two second-place finishes in major one-day races so far this season, she’s still the woman to beat despite Wednesday’s setback (if you can call fourth-place a setback). A victory Sunday would make her the winningest rider in the history of the women’s Ronde , and the first rider–male or female–to win the race three years in a row.

Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a bike)

Vos won the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in late February and then took a break after finishing ninth at Strade Bianche in early March. Well, it looks like the decision has paid off as the 36-year-old won Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen, putting herself firmly on the list of favorites for Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, a race she won in 2013.

What was most impressive about Vos’ win Wednesday was the manner in which she did it. Lidl-Trek had two riders–Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini and the Netherlands’ Shirin van Anrooij–in the leading breakaway of six. When van Anrooij attacked, Vos didn’t wait. She quickly covered the move, not worried about a possible counter-attack from Longo Borghini if the Dutch riders were caught.

It’s often said that in order to win races you have to be willing to lose them, and Vos illustrated the wisdom behind the cliché on Wednesday. With SD Worx-Protime and Lidl-Trek expected to have the two strongest teams in Sunday’s race, Vos might have to prove it right yet again.

Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek)

The second Lidl-Trek rider to make Wednesday’s winning breakaway, Longo Borghini, tried to join van Anrooij off the front with Vos at the end of Dwars door Vlaanderen but couldn’t quite close the gap. Regardless, she’s still a top contender for Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, a race she won in 2015. While they didn’t win the race Wednesday, her team found a winning formula for beating SD Worx-Protime: isolate and out-number them, and then grind them down. Look for them to try a similar approach on Sunday, with hopefully an even better outcome.

Other Riders to Watch

Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx-Protime), Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek), and Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing)

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EF Is Going Retro With These Throwback Kits for the Tour of Flanders

So far we only have black and white images of the kits, but the design is reminiscent of merckx’s era..

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EF Education designing a special swap-out kit for a major race is nothing new . Doing so for a single-day spring classic? That’s definitely novel.

Today, both the EF Education-EasyPost and EF Education-Cannondale men’s and women’s teams unveiled — or teased rather — a new look for the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, inspired by classic Flandrien kits of a bygone era.

As the team puts it, the kit, made by team sponsor Rapha , “is an homage to all of the riders who have rattled over the cobbles and pushed through wind and muck to win glory in the northern classics — and to future generations of Flandriens.”

Over the years, EF has made quite a few headlines with their swap-out kits, but usually they’re for grand tours like the Giro d’Italia, where the team’s pink color clashes with the leader’s jersey.

And generally, those designs employ color. However, so far all we’re getting from the team are black and white images, so any color in the kit is TBD.

But hey, black and white helps build that mystique, and more importantly shows that these kits are indeed inspired by the past, famously a gray-toned time.

While we can’t tell the color yet, we can say there appears to be some influence from the Molteni team jersey worn by a certain two-time Flanders winner Eddy Merckx .

EF boasts both a men’s and women’s winner of the Tour of Flanders in Alberto Bettiol , 2019, and Coryn Labecki , 2017, so don’t be surprised to see these new kits in the mix at the pointy end of the monument on Sunday.

If you would like to own one yourself, the kits will go on sale April 2 at 3 p.m. BST to Rapha Cycling Club members. Then 24 hours later the sale will open to the general public.

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'I'm digging it' - Powless lauds EF's Tour de France kit for women's cycling focus

EF Education-EasyPost racer inspired by example of fellow-pro sister Shayna Powless

As of Friday, Neilson Powless will be riding his third Tour de France, and even though he's not turned a pedal stroke in anger yet, the EF Education-EasyPost pro already knows one thing he likes about this year's race: the team kit.

Already famous for being the cycling team that made Argyle-pattern socks a positive fashion statement (in certain circles) and whose Donald Duck kit brought them praise and fines in equal measure (as well as ultra-rapid sell-outs of said kit), earlier this month EF Education-EasyPost revealed another striking Tour de France design, aimed at highlighting the links between men's and women's cycling.

"I'm digging the new kit, I've sent a lot of pictures to friends and families and they're all pretty big fans because of how much it stands out," Powless said at his team's pre-Tour press conference.

"The idea behind it, in terms of how to bring awareness to the women's Tour being back on and celebrating that is a super-awesome thing to do. It's really cool the team took that initiative.

"My sister [ Shayna ] is a pro cyclist  [with L39ION of Los Angeles - Ed.] and she just got fourth in Nationals which is pretty cool, pretty exciting. I'm hoping one year she can do the women's Tour [Tour de France Femmes] and she's hoping for the same. So I feel like I'm super happy to be a part of the team that is taking a step forward trying to transfer some those eyes on us into women's cycling."

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Even before he made it to the Tour, it's been a good year for Powless, with fourth in the Tour de Suisse as well as eighth in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, two standout results. But his breakthrough moment was undoubtedly taking the Donostia San Sebastián Klasika, or Clásica San Sebastián as it was formerly known, last year.

Dig back further, though, and it turns out Powless has already racked up two top five places in Tour stages back in his debut year of 2020. So after completing the Tour de France for a second time in 2021 and breaking into the top 50 in 43rd place overall, the aim is to shoot higher in 2022.

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"I'd like to win a stage, that's probably the highest personal priority, but we're coming here with Rigo [Urán] again as the main leader," Powless added.

"In the past few weeks, both Ruben [Guerreiro] and myself have been getting stronger in the mountains, so hopefully we'll be there to support and backup for Rigo'. And beyond that, I just need to make it through the first week safely. I think that's what a lot of guys have on their agenda, just getting through Denmark and Roubaix."

In terms of inspiration, though, Powless will surely be looking as much to how his sister Shayna has managed to battle to a fourth place in the road race at the USA Cycling Pro Road Nationals, and her tenacity and determination to get there, as he'll be looking at his own results. 

Certainly, he told reporters, her fight to continue as a professional racer was something he drew strength from himself. And if the EF jersey provided the theory of the potential for unity between the two sides of the sport, his lengthy description of what she'd had to go through to get there and why that mattered to him so much - given in full below - highlighted that connection in a practical and much deeper way.

"My sister definitely didn't have as many opportunities as I did to make cycling to have a real sustainable career path for herself," the 25-year-old said about his sibling, three years his senior.

"She continued cycling through college, she went to UCLA [University of California, Los Angeles] for four years. She continued training throughout the whole period but she had a pretty tough workload with kinesiology and psychology degrees.

"She was still so passionate about it. It was crazy to see her pushing through exams and the workload that came with going to a good school and she put a lot of work into being able to keep her cycling up through her schooling," her brother noted.

"But that's mainly because she did not have the same opportunity as I had when I was 19, 20 - being able to go straight to Europe and make my living. So in a lot of ways, it's super-inspiring to me, just to see what she's been able to do with her cycling career.

"She's got her degree and continued cycling the whole time. Now there's a really good chance she would have been national champion if the break had been caught because she won from the group behind."

Last Sunday in Knoxville, Tennessee, Emma Langley (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) won the US Pro Road Race Championship for elite women by sprinting ahead of breakaway companion Lauren De Crescenzo (Cinch Rise) in the final 500 metres. Powless almost chased down and caught defending road race champion Lauren Stephens (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), who finished six seconds in front of Powless for the final spot on the podium.

"And being able to race at that level, after being in school and moving around different states with her fiancé, who's in the NFL, and she's also coaching 10 athletes. She has a lot of things going on the side, has to supplement her income, basically just to continue income.

"It's super-inspiring that she can continue to pursue her passion and has made it work. It's a big inspiration for me but it hasn't come without its own difficulties."

The here and now in Denmark

Going back to the here and now for Neilson Powless, he admitted that the start in Denmark was going to be a tricky one, but interesting as well. Kicking off with a time trial, he pointed out, would give the race some structure, but he warned that it would not be straightforward all the same.

"It's still not going to take away the hectic fight for position if there's wind and if there's a technical finish.

"Even this riding around for the last few days, the wind has not felt comfortable, it's felt like it's been swirling around. So even if somebody says there might be a headwind or there might be a tailwind, it's going to be so unpredictable, we'll get echelons anyway. And that bridge [on stage 2] looks pretty intimidating."

Powless argued that in any case, the attitude he needed to bring to the Tour this year was the same as ever: "throw your hat in the ring, be aggressive, and get yourself into position."

"Looking at the team we've brought here I'm pretty confident we can do some damage, not just hang around but really initiate something. So hopefully that happens."

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Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews , he has also written for The Independent ,  The Guardian ,  ProCycling , The Express and Reuters .

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