Two years after career-threatening injuries, Danish classics specialist renews with World Tour team once again
Cycling
EF Education-EasyPost have renewed their contract with Michael Valgren until 2026. The American team has waited a long time until it announced some of it's signings and renewals, and amongst them is the Danish rider who continues to put on an impressive comeback after having his career on the edge back in 2022.
Valgren is a rider with plenty experience in the peloton, at 32 years of age the Dane has in his palmarès races such as the Amstel Gold Race and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but has since 2022 been in a very complicated situation health wise. In a crash suffered at La Route d'Occitanie, he suffered a fractured pelvis and dislocated hip.
Later on this led to necrosis on his hip and the injuries were bad enough that having an artificial hip became a very high possibility. However the medical teams were able have the best possible scenario out of the situation, and after 10 months in the sidelines he returned to the peloton in April of last year. He had been re-signed by the team's development block, and in 2024 made the leap back to the World Tour.
His competitiveness in a peloton that is in constant evolution was a question however, but he was quite active this year and finished eighth at Dwars door Vlaanderen, as well as coming second in a stage of the Giro d'Italia. His experience as a classics rider makes him a valuable part of the team aside from the results, and he was rewarded with another two years at the highest level - announced by his agency, not the American team who remains in silence until the time of posting.
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Contract extension for @MichaelValgren through 2026 🙌👊 You deserve it buddy ✍️❤️ pic.twitter.com/g3jrFSnb1U
— CORSO (@CORSOsports) November 9, 2024
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