After toying with retirement, Rigoberto Urán has decided to extend his career and has put pen to paper on a new deal with EF Education-EasyPost.
The Colombian, a former runner-up at the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, was coming to the end of his current contract and hadn't lined anything up by the end of the season. However, the 35-year-old has now decided to carry on and agreed terms with the team he has represented since 2016.
In a statement, the team indicated the decision had been made after a strong set of results in the last-season Italian races. Despite the length of the new contract being undisclosed, Urán has stated he intends to keep racing for multiple years.
"I decided to keep racing because I like it. I have a lot of passion for what I do. My life is on the bike," he said.
"The most important thing is family support. My family likes being here in Europe. They spend a lot of time away from Colombia so if they like it here, that’s important. Me, I love it here, I love riding, so I want to keep going for a few more years. I get to combine my life in Colombia with sports here in Europe and I have my family’s support, so I decided to continue racing for a few more years."
Urán has just completed his 17th season as a professional, first racing for lower-level Italian teams as a teenager before spending three years and Movistar, three at Ineos, and two at QuickStep before moving to EF in 2016. In that time he established himself as a leading Grand Tour rider, with back-to-back second-place finishes at the Giro in 2013 and 2014 before he finished best of the rest behind Chris Froome at the 2017 Tour.
His stage win at the recent Vuelta a España completed his set of stage wins in all three Grand Tours and, along with a top-10 finish and fifth-place in the Giro dell'Emilia, perhaps gave him the belief he can still be competitive after a disappointing few seasons.
"These are my last years to be on the podium. I want to keep giving my all for the podium. We'll see what we can do for the Grand Tour podiums. That is what we keep working for. That's why we keep racing for each other," he said.
"Now we have a lot of young riders so I try to support the young ones and share what I've learned over the years. I try to be a great friend to everyone because sometimes that's what you need."
Urán's contract extension solidifies his legacy at EF Education-EasyPost, with team boss Jonathan Vaughters acknowledging that the Colombian had 'saved' the team in the past.
The US outfit had numerous sponsorship crises before the arrival of EF, most notably at the end of 2017 when the team looked set to fold. Urán, who'd just finished second in the Tour with his market value at a high, remained loyal as the team crowdfunded, and eventually, EF came in on a partnership that's still going today.
"Rigo helped save this organization on more than one occasion. He's a leader, by example, not by force. He'll be invaluable in guiding the younger riders on this team. To me, Rigo isn't just a team member, he's a true partner and member of our family," Vaughters said.
EF Education-EasyPost have been establishing their 2023 roster in the past couple of weeks. It was recently announced that Mikkel Honoré had been snapped up from QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, where he had a 2023 contract, while Ruben Guerreiro has done the opposite and ended his stay early to join Movistar.
The team's marquee signing is Richard Carapaz from Ineos Grenadiers, who looks set to take over Urán's mantle as Grand Tour leader. Andrey Amador has also followed Carapaz as a domestique, while Jefferson Cepeda and Andrea Piccolo were brought in from Drone Hopper-Androni in August as off-road riders Lachlan Morton and Alex Howes moved off the road roster.
Sebastian Langeveld is retiring, while Michael Valgren drops to the Nippo-sponsored development set-up as he continues his recovery from career-threatening injuries. The team still have a number of riders out of contract, including Esteban Chaves.
