Sabgal Anicolor hires former junior World Champion Julius Johansen

The Sabgal / Anicolor team has confirmed the signing of 24-year-old Dane Julius Johansen, who had been without a team since the end of the year after his contract with Intermarche-Wanty ended.

Johansen began his career in Continental Team ColoQuick in 2018, where he stayed for two seasons, before moving to the Uno-X development team and then to the main team the following year. In 2022 he signed for Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux, now Intermarché-Wanty, but as he revealed at the end of 2023, "I haven't signed anything. I've just moved to Spain and I'm very happy about that. I've settled in very well and I've been living there for a year. I've finished decorating the house and now I don't know if I'll have to sell it because I can't afford to live there," Johansen revealed at the time. "So of course I sleep in a very difficult situation and I just hope that I can continue to be a cyclist in the way that I dream of."

Now Johansen, who won the 2017 World Championships road race in the junior category, can continue to pursue his dream, as Team Manager Carlos Pereira has opened the door to the Portuguese continental team, and it is certain that he will take part next Sunday in the Arrábida Classic, a UCI 1.2 race.

Johansen thus fills the shoes of Dutch cyclist Antwan Tolhoek, who was suspended by the UCI for testing positive for anabolic steroids as a result of a check carried out when he was representing Lidl-Trek in 2023.