Merhawi Kudus returns to professional peloton with Burgos! - "I'm looking forward to a chance to show my potential"
Cycling
It was a shock when no team opted to give a chance to Merhawi Kudus at the end of last season. But instead of giving up, the 30-year-old buckled up and racing for Malaysian top continental team Terengganu, he showed everyone the kind of rider they missed out on. Burgos-BH didn't hesitate, and after a stellar season offered the Eritrean two-year contract in the Spanish PRT team.
Perhaps related to the visa issues along with two mediocre seasons in EF Education-EasyPost jersey, it's possible to see why Kudus ended up without a professional contract at the end of 2023. But we must understand that the Eritrean, who previously raced for Dimension Data and Astana, spent a lot of time working for his teammates and thus had limited options to score his own result.
Stepping down to continental level for 2024, Kudus still felt like he had something left to prove in cycling and went on to have an impressive streak of results to - in 54 race days - finish only six times outside the top-25 (twice DNF and once relegation). His stand-out result was the second place overall at the Tour of Turkiye. in Asian Tour he also took 2nd overall at the Japanese Tours of Kumano and Japan, while his only individual victory of the year came at the Indonesian Tour de Banyuwagi Ijen, known for its queen stage climb with extremely steep slopes.
Racking up well over 500 UCI points, teams that are starving after those quickly took notice of Kudus and with his wealth of experience with nine Grand Tour starts, it's a safe bet. Burgos-BH can see him as a replacement for their main UCI-points scorer of this season, the departing Kiwi Aaron Gate (to Astana).
"After a good season with the Terengganu Cycling Team, I am very happy to return to the professional peloton next year with Burgos-BH. I am very grateful to have received this opportunity. I am very excited and looking forward to joining the team to show my potential," the Eritrean said in a press release.
Read also
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
Loading
🚨 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐢 𝐊𝐮𝐝𝐮𝐬, experiencia WorldTour para el Burgos BH hasta 2⃣0⃣2⃣6⃣ 🇪🇷 El escalador y vueltómano eritreo ha completado una gran temporada en el calendario asiático ¡Welcome to the team, @MeraKudus! 💜 📝 📲 burgosproteam.com/merhawi-kudus-…
Write a comment