The new EF Education-Cannondale have confirmed their 15-rider roster for the 2024 season with some of the biggest names: Alison Jackson, Veronica Ewers, Kristen Faulkner and Lotta Henttala leading the way.
General manager Esra Tromp said the team sets themselves apart because of their ability to 'think outside the box' with a no-fear approach to racing.
“What they all have in common is they are not scared. Our riders are not scared to race really aggressively. Our riders want to race aggressively. They dare to think outside of the box," Tromp said.
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"That’s one of our biggest strengths as a team. We need to win races and not be scared to lose races. Our riders want to overcome their perceived limits. These are some bold riders.”
EF Pro Cycling announced in June that they would start a new women's team, racing as EF Education-Cannondale, and that it would begin as a Continental women's team in 2024.
Since that announcement, the team signed 14 riders: Megan Armitage, Letizia Borghesi, Kim Cadzow, Clara Emond, Veronica Ewers, Kristen Faulkner, Lotta Henttala, Alison Jackson, Nina Kessler, Clara Koppenburg, Coryn Labecki, Noemi Rüegg, Elizabeth Stannard and Magdeleine Vallieres. The 15th rider to sign with the team was Natalie Quinn.
“The first thing we did was say, ‘What is important to us as a team?’ and that was our starting point,” Tromp said of her approach to signing each rider.
“We want to be visible in races, and we want to be active in the final kilometres of a race, so in order to do that, you need experienced riders who are physically capable of riding and racing in the final.
"That was the first box we wanted to check. That’s what riders like Alison Jackson and Veronica Ewers and Letizia Borghesi bring.”
Tromp said she also took a long-term approach when selecting each rider and considered the future of the team in years to come. Other factors that went into building the roster were riders' characters and how well the team would work together.
“The next question is, ‘how do we build a team for the future?’ Not only for next year, but also for the years after that. We have a lot of young talent on the team like Megan Armitage and Clara Emond, who are still new to the peloton and still developing,” Tromp said.
“Then you search for the best combination of characters and personalities. The personalities need to be able to work together. We have a wide range of personalities. We have introverts, extroverts, and people who fall in between. It’s a really nice mix.”
She stated that the team's main goal is to build visibility in the races and design a calendar that will ensure the team succeeds, meaning they might not be at all the races.
"We’ll use our strengths, and we’ll think a little bit outside the box. Of course, there are priority races that are important to us as a team, races like the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix, having a former winner on the team, and we’ll approach those races like any other – what do we need to do to win? That is our main goal, to win races.”
EF Education-Cannondale roster for 2024: Megan Armitage, Letizia Borghesi, Kim Cadzow, Clara Emond, Veronica Ewers, Kristen Faulkner, Lotta Henntala, Alison Jackson, Nina Kessler, Clara Koppenburg, Coryn Labecki, Natalie Quinn, Noemi Ruegg, Lizzie Stannard and Magdeleine Vallieres.
