Mountain bike champion makes the switch to the road : “This is the perfect time to step out of my comfort zone”
CyclingThursday, 07 November 2024 at 11:00
Alan Hatherly, a professional mountain bike rider from South
Africa, made history at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games by securing the bronze
medal. This achievement marked a significant milestone, as Hatherly became the
first African and non-European to win a medal in the men’s mountain bike event.
The race saw Tom Pidcock clinching the gold, successfully defending his title
from the Tokyo Olympics.
In a surprising turn of events, the 28-year-old Hatherly has
now transitioned to road racing, signing with the WorldTour Team Jayco AlUla.
This move comes on the heels of an exceptional season in which Hatherly also
won the gold medal at the World XC Championships in Andorra.
Hatherly expressed his excitement about this significant
career shift: “I am incredibly excited about this new chapter in my cycling
career and very grateful for the opportunity to ride for Jayco AlUla for the
next two seasons. I think this is the perfect time to step out of my comfort
zone and develop myself even further. The switch to a WorldTour road team is of
course something completely new for me, it will be a steep learning curve and I
will learn from the best.”
Brent Copeland, Team Director of Jayco AlUla, spoke highly
of Hatherly’s potential: “Alan has clearly had a breakthrough season in that
discipline and it shows he has much more to offer.
Read also
“We are delighted to be working with such a talented rider
and believe that our strong support network within the WorldTeam setup is
something that Hatherly will benefit from. He has a lot of talent and clearly a
lot of potential and we believe he can go far on the road.”
With his proven talent and newfound opportunity, Alan
Hatherly's transition to road racing marks the beginning of an exciting new
chapter in his career.
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- He was always a great tactician. But he pushed doping on his riders from back in the CSC days big time. I read Tyler's book, it was dark...awp07-11-2024
- wow, this is a shock. this guy is a major talent on the MTB, and he just won the WC. I'm surprised he doesn't want to spend a year enjoying the rainbow jersey.mij07-11-2024
- This is true. But also, for some reason the amount of Athletes who are getting asthma related to sports is on a steady climb. Not in just cycling but around the world in seemingly every single sport. I don’t have any explanation for this. Could it be the changes in weather conditions and such compared to 20yrs ago? Or is something going on in relation to doping? I have not read enough on this to have a solid understanding or opinionmd197507-11-2024
- "Armstrong won his 7 wins. Fair and square. Doping was rampant during his time. He did was just to level the playing field" comment from KHWong. He cheated, he enticed/forced teammates to cheat, he affected other's families and tainted other's reputations, he sued those who factually accused him of cheating in their attempt to prove breach of contract, he got paid to admit to his lies. Nice guy; right? Anyone who has not been prosecuted for cheating per THEIR OWN SPORT'S RULES THAT THEY AGREE TO ABIDE BY and continues to deny in public or to themselves, and rationalizes the reasons for doing so is weak of mind and body, has no integrity or ethics and ahould find another job or form their own cycling federation where anything goes. The fans will not care if you screw up your bodies for their entertainment. Just take look at boxing and American football. Even worse when fans of the sport themselves make those rationalizations for the cheaters. There has been cheating of all types throughout the history of many sports; nearly 150 years in cycling itself since competitions started, and the gambling and revenue that came along with them. Cheat if you want, but lack any personal integrity. If that is what you to be, or want to emulate fine; but no one should expect or receive pity for a premeditated decision to cheat in any manner. You are deceiving yourself if competing, and also deceiving the fans. Cycling will soon be like "professional wrestling": choreographed and with the winner being known in advance. Oh wait; that is what already has happened this year. It has been found that many of cycling's "greats" (i.e. Coppi, Merckx, et al.) were cheating and possibly caused (did cause) one or more premature deaths in cycling. Go ahead and enjoy a sport that you cannot trust; I will not.BraneDed07-11-2024
- Remco's public pronouncements are careful and deliberate. He is laying the groundwork for an exit a year from now if his 2025 results don't match his ambition.Renz07-11-2024
- yeah, riis has been a team manager for about 20 years now. he never left the sport. most of those who got caught never did either, except for the periods of their suspensions. that includes merckx and hinault and kelly and blah blah blah, ad infinitum…OCexile07-11-2024
- Hubris. Does funny things to people.Sweep07-11-2024
- So all the old dopers are feeling like it's time to come back to pro cycling. I wonder why.Sweep07-11-2024
- Mainly things like you just listed didn't have a true "test" available to the UCI/ASO. Doping has been around as long as the TDF for the most part. Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Greg LeMond, Miguel Induráin and more all used something. Most of the time the UCI didn't have a test for it. I remember EPO being talked about 10yrs before anyone was tested in a major cycling event. Riders at times had to set alarms to wake up and ride for an hour or so at night. Why? So there blood didn't thicken and cause it to not flow correctly and kill them. Riding a bike on rollers every few hours was the only thing that they knew worked. Cycling is a dirty sport. But, we love it and the drama and amazing rides. And the riders are willing to risk everything to win. To be the best at the sportmd197507-11-2024
- Most of their sporting ventures, maybe Armorim can stop the downward spiral, for a while.Mistermaumau07-11-2024