Archie Ryan leads youthful EF Education-EasyPost at the Tour Down Under

The kick-off of the 2024 road season is almost upon us in Australia at the Tour Down Under. EF Education-EasyPost will be sending a youthful team, with a keen eye towards the future.

A youthful team, led by transfer window acquisition, Archie Ryan will take to the Aussie stage race. “We’ve got a pretty fresh roster. Only one rider has done this race with us before, Jonas Rutsch. Owain Doull and Stefan de Bod have both raced it but on different teams. It’s all quite fresh. We’ve got three neo-pros – Jack, Jardi, and Archie – which is exciting," assesses sports director, Tom Southam.

"It’s a really good race for them to start at. It’s quite an exciting race and they should be able to be competitive, even the neo-pros. It’s not overly complex technically-speaking so there’s quite a bit of space for them to have a chance to develop and grow," Southam continues. "Mixed in with those guys, we’ve got riders like Owain and Harry Sweeny – even though Harry’s never done the race before – tons of experience, stable hands, very strong riders. It’s a really good mix. I want the guys to have the freedom to race hard and to enjoy the first race."

"I’m really excited, really, really excited. I’m super happy to be here, starting the season, starting my first race with the team. Like I said, super excited. We’ve got a good bunch of boys this year as well so it should be good fun," adds Ryan, who joined the team from Jumbo-Visma. "There are four of us that are new here on the team but we all gelled together already. It feels natural already and we’re only a couple of days in. I’m having a good time. I’m really excited to get the season started. I can’t wait. If I could fast forward to stage one, I would. I just want to race!"

EF Education-EasyPost for the Tour Down Under:

Archie Ryan, Stefan de Bod, Owain Doull, Jack Rootkin-Gray, Jonas Rutsch, Harry Sweeny, and Jardi van der Lee.