EF Education-EasyPost sports director reflects on strong 2024 season: "I saw great dedication and the right attitude"

EF Education-EasyPost enjoyed a successful 2024 season, securing 24 victories and showcasing significant progress as a team. The standout performer was Richard Carapaz, who delivered impressive results and cemented his status as the American team's most valuable asset. Looking ahead to 2025.

Sports director Charly Wegelius shared insights with bici.PRO about the team's 2024 season and their new signings for next year. "It was a great season, considering not only the successes of the guys, but seeing that we found Carapaz at his level and a general behaviour of the team always active and protagonist, in particular at the Tour where beyond the results I saw great dedication and the right attitude.

“This does not take away the fact that at the end of the season we had to review our teams a bit as always happens. From an Italian perspective, we will miss Bettiol, who was very important for our history, for our evolution, but riders come and go, it is a law of sport."

Wegelius emphasised the team’s approach to recruitment and how they remain committed to their core philosophy. "We are faithful to our philosophy, to go in search of continuous progress, to look for values that others do not see, we have always made our purchases like this. In particular we found in Albanese and Battistella two great opportunities that the cycling market gave us and we wanted to seize them on the fly.

“Albanese for example is a rider who has already shown good things with Basso, who has shown he can stay at the highest level and who knows how to place well, bringing many points to his teams."

Wegelius further elaborated on the expectations for Samuele Battistella, reflecting on the potential he possesses, "When you move up a category with the rainbow jersey on, it's almost a burden. In history, we have seen many world champion riders who then ended up in anonymity. However, we think that if he won that jersey, there is talent, we need to understand how to find it, make it emerge. I say that there are races in the calendar where Samuele can race thinking about the result. We have a lot of faith in him, he can do much more than what he has shown up to now."

Discussing the strategic outlook for 2025, Wegelius highlighted the team's approach to selecting riders who fit their dynamic profile. "When we look for riders we think about what they can give, technically and humanly, not about the specific type of races where they can emerge. We have a team that is a good mix, that can be strong on all terrains, that can emerge in one-day races as well as in small or medium stage races, because it is clear that in the grand tours you need to have a specific structure and men that very few teams have today.

“Even if Carapaz has always shown he can have his say. We have strong people for climbs and time trials. It is true, we lack the sprinter, but in that case we would need to build a completely different team."