The WorldTour's longest team name got a little bit more concise on Friday, with Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux announcing the promotion of Circus to co-title sponsor. In 2023, the team will race as Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, the team revealed in a presentation in Charleroi.
Circus was the team's title sponsor in 2020 before the Belgian outfit acquired the management company of the former CCC Team, Continuum Sports, and with it their WorldTour licence.
"We made a step forward this season, both on the sports side with 24 victories and a fifth place in the UCI world ranking as on our projects," team CEO Jean-François Bourlart said in a press release.
The team will also grow its development structure, with the Ardent Group becoming the title sponsor of the under-23 team, to be known as the Ardent Group Cycling Academy and directed by Kévin Van Melsen, who raced with the team for more than a decade and retired at the end of this season.
Luis Léon Sánchez rejoins Astana
Luis Leon Sanchez on the podium at the Vuelta a España with the combativity prize on stage 14 (Image credit: Getty Images)
After a single season with Bahrain Victorious, Luis Leon Sanchez will return to the Astana Qazaqstan Team in 2023, the team he raced with from 2015 through 2021. The 38-year-old Spaniard inked a one-year contract.
"I am incredibly happy to return to the Astana team, in fact, to return home. I have great feelings, having signed a contract with the team again, for me it is a great joy and a huge motivation," Sánchez said. "I want to thank Alexandr Vinokurov and the entire management for this opportunity. It happened that at the end of the last year we had to part ways, but I used this season as productively as possible, I worked hard, gained new experience, and tried to improve professionally.
"Of course, I am grateful to my current team for the great opportunity to spend the 2022 season together, but now I am looking forward to reuniting with Astana Qazaqstan Team to continue moving towards new goals together."
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Last year, Astana faced both management changes and sponsorship woes as Premier Tech broke with the team and Vinokourov was briefly ousted from the team structure. In the meantime, Sánchez had left for Bahrain Victorious. He was the team's top Tour de France finisher in 13th after the disqualification of Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic).
"We all know Luis Leon Sanchez very well; we know his strengths and capabilities. He is a great team rider, a great assistant and a true professional. It was a pity to lose such a reliable rider last year, but that's how the circumstances turned out. And now, I am very happy that there is an opportunity to invite him back to the team, to sign a contract with him. You can rely on Sanchez in any race, you can be sure that he will give 100% for the sake of achieving team goals. Therefore, I can only add "welcome home, Luis Leon," said Vinokurov.
Team DSM sign Alex Edmondson, neo-pros Dinham and Flynn
Alex Edmondson racing Dwars door Vlaanderen in 2021 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Team DSM announced the arrival of Australian Alex Edmondson for 2023. The 28-year-old moves across from Team BikeExchange-Jayco. Edmondson, an Olympic silver medalist and three-time world champion on the track, was the Australian road champion in 2018.
"I am really looking forward to joining Team DSM. The team has a lot of young but very talented guys and being able to help and spur them on is something that really motivates me," Edmondson said. "I also like how the team approaches things and they think outside the box, going down different pathways and avenues. They are a very successful team and I want to be part of that success going forward. I know a few of the guys already on the team and am eager to hit the ground running come January."
Two neo-pros were announced at the same time, with another Australian, Matthew Dinham, and Briton Sean Flynn, both 22, making their WorldTour debuts with the team in 2023. Dinham was the Australian MTB champion this season. He raced to 12th overall at the Tour de l'Avenir. Flynn, is also a multi-discipline specialist, racing road, cyclocross and mountain bike. He turned his attention full-time to the road in 2021 with the SEG Racing Academy team and this season raced with Tudor Pro Cycling.
Skujins renews with Trek-Segafredo
Toms Skujins (Trek Segafredo) gets bottles from the team car at the Maryland Cycling Classic (Image credit: Snowy Mountain Photography)
Toms Skujiņš, 31, added two more years to his contract with Trek-Segafredo, the team announced. The three-time winner of Tour of California stages and frequent attacker won the mountains classification in the Tour de Romandie this season. His major goal for the next two years will be to win a Grand Tour stage, he said.
"It'll be already quite a few years after this contract with the team. I feel like there's no other place I'd rather be for another two years," he said. "I think that every single year I've been on the team I've made a step up; sometimes it has paid off, sometimes it hasn't paid off results-wise personally. Overall my ability to help the team has improved year by year. Now we have some new, exciting riders coming up through the team like Mattias Skjelmose and I'm looking forward to helping him where I can.
"This year was the first year that I did the Classics, which was fun. I definitely enjoyed being part of that team. In the past, I've always done the Ardennes, so it was a nice change of pace. There are still a lot of races I want to do, still a lot of races I haven't yet done."
Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.
