Quick-Step AlphaVinyl announced on Thursday the team released Danish rider Mikkel Honoré from his contract and minutes later, EF Education-EasyPost confirmed the arrival of the 25-year-old. The swap comes a day after EF Education-EasyPost released Ruben Guerreiro, who will join the Movistar Team in 2023.
Honoré started his career as a trainee for QuickStep in 2018 and spent four seasons with the team, whose manager Patrick Lefevere described him as "a very talented and versatile rider" and "a selfless team player".
He will join newcomers Richard Carapaz and Andrey Amador in moving to EF-EasyPost, and should have more opportunities to fight for results after four seasons racing in support of QuickStep's team leaders.
"I am just super excited," Honoré said in the team's press release. "It is a new start and chapter for me, and I can't wait to meet all of the management, riders, and staff and get going for next year.
"I can race in almost every kind of terrain and hopefully bring a good mood and atmosphere to the team," Mikkel says. "I love to race and attack and am looking forward to getting more opportunities with EF. I am excited to go to races with a plan to take the win. I know I have the level and the capacity to do so. We are going to have a very good team."
A winner of a stage in the Itzulia Basque Country in 2021 where he escaped with teammate Josef Cerny from a six-man breakaway, Honoré also won a stage that year in the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali where he escaped with race leader Jonas Vingegaard on the final stage. He also made the winning move in the 2021 Clasica San Sebastian, finishing third behind EF-EasyPost's Neilson Powless.
"Mikkel will be a great asset for the team in hilly classics and the grand tours," EF Education-EasyPost CEO Jonathan Vaughters said in the press release. "He has proven that he's a top-class support rider and, if you look at his results, he is knocking on the door of a big win himself.
"This is a guy who has already won a stage at the Tour of the Basque Country, and that is one of the hardest races out there. We're going to welcome him into the team and let him show us what he can do. He's a smart, thoughtful guy and is going to fit right in."
