Let’s take a look at what went well for EF Education –
EasyPost throughout the year, and if there are any areas they should be
concerned about heading into 2025.
Spring season
Neilson Powless has been one of the strongest riders for the
team in previous spring seasons, however, he was missing from the team’s
arsenal this time around due to an injury. As a result, the pressure was on
Alberto Bettiol to pick up some results before the likes of Richard Carapaz
could help out during the grand tour season.
And Bettiol certainly pulled his weight for the team. The
31-year-old Italian picked up one of the team’s first wins of the season at
Milano – Torino with an incredible 30km solo attack. It was a massive moment
for the team to win the oldest classic in the sport, in its 105th edition. Just
as the mighty UAE Team-Emirates started to put the hammer down, Bettiol
attacked and flew past them, and he clung on to win by just seven seconds.
Bettiol followed up this showing by coming fifth at Milan -
San Remo, which secured the team a much-needed 100 points for their UCI
ranking. Bettiol would go on to provide more success for EF Education –
EasyPost at the Boucles de la Mayenne – Credit Mutuel, where he won the second
stage and took the GC win too. This result picked up another 150 points for the
team, and shows just how important he is to them. The Italian even had a strong
showing at the Tour of Flanders, even though that race will only be remembered
for Mathieu van der Poel.
It’s safe to say that without Bettiol, the team would have
struggled in the early part of the season. He’s now leaving the team for 2025,
but we’ll get to that concern shortly.
Grand Tour season
At the Giro d’Italia in May, the team had a relatively quiet
three weeks but did manage to take home a stage victory. Stage 17 saw something
of a rarity for this year’s Giro, as it was one of the few stages that Tadej
Pogacar did not blow the field away in. Instead,
EF Education-EasyPost's Georg
Steinhauser, who is related to Jan Ullric, won the stage on Passo Brocon. With
just over 2km left of the penultimate climb, Steinhauser rode away from his
companion in their two man breakaway. By the time the EF Education-EasyPost man
had summited the climb, his advantage was 1:44 over the peloton, and Steinhauser
was looking good for the stage win.
INEOS Grenadiers were at the front of the peloton, and with
5km to go, Jhonatan Narvaez began to increase the pace on the front of the
bunch, with casualties immediately dropping out of a dwindling Maglia Rosa
group. Despite the acceleration in the bunch, the GC group never really put Steinhauser
under threat, and he took a massive win for his career, and his team.
Richard Carapaz made history at the Tour de France
Aside from Steinhauser’s win in the Giro, there was one
glaring fact on show during the season: EF Education – EasyPost rely heavily on
Richard Carapaz throughout the longer races. After all, the 31-year-old won the
Giro d’Italia back in 2019 and finished third at the Tour de France in 2021
behind Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. Jonathan Vaughters put a lot of
money and faith into signing Carapaz from Team INEOS in 2023, but their first
Tour de France campaign together was marred by disaster when Carapaz crashed
out on the very first stage.
This year, he’d have more luck. The Ecuadorian entered the
Tour de France aiming for stage wins and managed to take the yellow jersey on
stage 3, making history as the first Ecuadorian rider to wear cycling’s most
prized possession. After losing the leader’s jersey to Pogacar on stage 4,
Carapaz went on to become one of the highlights of the Tour. His regular
attacking and refusal to give up in seemingly dire situations lit up many
stages across the three weeks in France back in July, but for a long time, it
seemed the stage win would elude him. But finally, on stage 17, Carapaz went
solo to pick up his maiden Tour de France stage win after many years of close
calls. It was a fan-favourite win, and he won the polka-dot jersey on stage 19
of the Tour, managing to hold on to become the 2024 Tour de France King of the
Mountains, the first Ecuadorian to do so.
But the Ecuadorian’s summer wasn’t done there, as he also
took on the year’s final Grand Tour, the Vuelta a Espana. Unlike at the Tour,
Carapaz made it clear that he was riding for the GC in Spain. Once more, he was
one of the most exciting riders in the race, but finished just shy of the
podium in fourth, behind Primoz Roglic, Ben O’Connor, and Enric Mas. Still,
Carapaz proved that he is still one of the world’s best grand tour riders, and
EF Education – EasyPost are certainly very fortunate to have him.
Transfers
Losing Alberto Bettiol will be a significant blow to EF
Education – EasyPost, as his departure creates a void that will be difficult to
fill. Bettiol, who picked up almost 1500 UCI points in 2024, has been vital to
the team. His points tally alone equalled the combined total of Astana's top
three riders, which explains why Astana Qazaqstan Team aggressively pursued
him. This change leaves the American team with a gap in points and experience
that will impact their rankings and performance. Bettiol's consistency,
particularly in the classics, and his knack for scoring UCI points were assets
EF Education – EasyPost will now miss, and they must address the problem
quickly.
The team has made a number of new signings to bolster its
ranks. Vincenzo Albanese joins from Arkéa - B&B Hotels, and the 27-year-old
Italian is eager to make his mark with the American team team. He’s set his
sights on competing at the Tour de France and hopes to perform well in the
classics. Additionally, Rui Costa, the 38-year-old Portuguese rider and former
world champion, has signed an extension with the team, committing to at least
one more season. His experience and presence in the World Tour peloton will be
invaluable as he continues with the team into 2025.
The team has also secured Samuele Battistella, Madis
Mihkels, Kasper Asgreen, Alex Baudin, and Max Walker for the 2025 season.
Mihkels, a 21-year-old Estonian prospect, expressed his excitement about
joining the team, seeing it as a perfect step forward in his career. With the
gap left by Bettiol, EF Education – EasyPost will be counting on their new
signings to step up to the task, and quickly.
Final verdict: 7/10
On the whole, this was a positive season for the American
team. They picked up stage wins at the Giro and Tour, and nearly got a podium
with Carapaz at the Vuelta. Carapaz’s stage win and mountain classifications
win at the Tour are already amongst the team’s best ever moments, and Carapaz
himself will be happy with the way he performed this year.
Despite this, there are some causes for concern. The loss of
Bettiol, and the reliance on Carapaz, could create problems going forward. If
Carapaz begins to show any signs of losing his touch in 2025, the team will
really be scratching around looking for where their points are coming from.
Whilst this was a good year for the team, they need some of their other riders
to step up next year to carry on the positive momentum.