Briton Harrison Wood 'struggling to understand' World Tour team snub as he returns to Continental ranks
Cycling
Harrison Wood is one of the British riders who was part of the World Tour this year but despite his young age of 24, he was unable to secure his future at the top level of cycling. He was left confused and disappointed with the end of his stint at Cofidis, but believes he will have better chances of proving his own quality with Portuguese Sabgal-Anicolor team.
"I have so much respect and a lot of love for the people at Cofidis with the team atmosphere and riders that we had. It was great for them to put me in some of these really big races but then I sort of think it almost backfired putting me in them as it meant I couldn’t ever do the slightly smaller races to try and make results and really show myself," Wood said in words to CyclingWeekly.
Wood had previously discussed the issue with UCI points for domestiques such as him. He connects the dots perfectly in this interview, happy with the opportunities he got at the French team, but that his good calendar also meant he was also competing against top riders and largely in a support role - which meant conquering UCI points was very difficult, which in turn made him less appealing to keep in the team.
"That’s definitely one thing I’ve been struggling to understand with Cofidis," he admits. "I ended up doing all these big races so the team must have had a lot of confidence to put me in these from the start and been happy with how I was going. So I guess that’s what I don’t understand as if they’d wanted me to do results then I should maybe have been doing the slightly smaller races. It left me a bit confused at the end."
Ultimately he was not able to then get a contract at World Tour, but the Briton's talent was recognized. He signed a one-year contract with Sabgal - Anicolor who has built a block to race international events, and should do the same with Wood being one of the leaders for the 2025 season.
"I had the opportunity from Sabgal–Anicolor and thought actually I could benefit from being somewhere else where the team might help me in races a lot and I can repay the favour at other points and I can then get some results with the aim of moving back to the WorldTour at another point," he explains.
It is a plan with potential, and he is quite positive that he can do this taking into account the team's structure and plans: "If I'm honest the team we have got isn’t a Continental team roster, it's more like a Pro Continental squad. It’s the equipment that helps with that too, we’ve got Factor bikes, lightweight Princeton wheels, good kit, altitude training camps. So the team is like a higher level setup just with a Continental license."
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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- I hope he rides a bitmij15-11-2026
- Greatest athlete this world has ever produced ! LOL ... you definitely are a comdian ! Cycling is so sprecialized and you think he's the greatest athlete ever ! Still laughing !frieders315-11-2026
- b.s. headline. Jonas wasn't told anything, it is just a pundit telling him what to do. the actual article is not even close to the insinuation of the headline.mij15-11-2026
- I think Roglic could have beaten Sepp. not Jonas. I was referring to Sepp.mij15-11-2026
- I'm deeply sick of this guy and his unwillingness to race seriously for more than a month or two. I'll never respect riders who do that. Seixas will be stronger than him next season, and maybe Del Toro as well. I don't even think he'll finish on the podium at any GT where Pogi, Seixas, and Del Toro are racing.megasmacky15-11-2026
- Not a chance in hell.megasmacky15-11-2026
- If you go watch some races from last season other riders that have never caught Jonas...are now catching him. Some are just riding away from him and he can't hold the wheelmd197514-11-2026
- He just doesn't have the desire anymore. I read an article earlier today that said he almost retired last year. His reasoning was he is away from home to much. Visma was able to keep him riding by allowing him to skip certain camps. So, while currently Visma is doing altitude work...Jonas is at home. Which means 2 things. 1- He maybe fresher than other riders. But, not the condition. 2-Is a somewhat slap in the face to others on the team that are supposed to help him win. Yet feel like he hasn't done what they have so perhaps they don't provide as good of protection or they ride more for theme (which the team may not notice).md197514-11-2026
- Roglic could not have won anyway, after Jonas followed him when Roglic decided it was his turn for a stage win. Jonas had already attacked Kuss twice, so it was Jonas who was within seconds of taking the lead before Kuss was 'gifted' the win. It felt a bit like Roglic was being thrown under the bus when the team made his unhappiness public.Hills3314-11-2026
- POG1, another nice doc about our favourite, I watched most of it with a big smile on my face (except for the bits about his crashes 😢 obvs!).Lozza14-11-2026
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