Sixteenth in the team standings for the now familiar three-year period 2020-2022. They have thus far launched a significant transfer campaign. Coming off a strong Tour de France, Charly Wegelius, sports director of EF Education-EasyPost, is preparing for the future. The immediate one of the season finale, the slightly further away one of the year to come.
It's not official yet, but it's an open secret: next year Richard Carapaz will wear the American team's jersey. An important step towards the general classification in the Grand Tours, which is a bit of a novelty for the group of Jonathan Vaughters (the team manager), at least in recent times.
Hard Spring
With Wegelius we start right from Carapaz, but the coach is keeping his mouth shut, as one might expect. Until the official announcement is made, beware of exposing yourself. That's right.
What's certain is that EF needs to relaunch itself. And it must do so before the 2019 pink jersey arrives. The season so far has been difficult.
«I almost struggle to judge the season – says Wegelius – because we had a really difficult spring. I don't know why, but it seems like we've suffered more than others from Covid and other diseases., even the normal ones. And this had a huge impact."
«I'll give you an example: Magnus Cort NielsenHe broke his collarbone, then he had Covid... This makes it tough to maintain continuity and make plans for the athlete's condition, but also for the team. I admit that more than a few times we had difficulty fielding seven men at the start of the various races."
"Or Uranium (who we saw struggling at the Tour, ed.): in the spring he had Covid. He was recovering, but he fell in Liège. He got back up and after four days in Romandie he fell again, breaking his shoulder. Among other things, the one that had already fractured in the past: here this was the photo of our spring».
EF from the end of the year
But then things slowly started to turn around. A decent Dauphiné, a Switzerland on the rise...
«And I would say it was an excellent Tour – Wegelius comments – we put on a show, we won a stage and I think that We have created the conditions for an excellent end to the season. Which is a bit of a characteristic of our team."
And here the curiosity kicks in. Why does a team have "ideal characteristics" for the end of the season? The races are more or less the same: hard, easy, a great Giro (the Return), short stage races…
«It is a consequence of the fact that we usually have the opportunity to do business later Compared to other teams, we look for riders relatively late in the season. We have less budget and we take what is left available. And usually at this point of the year, they are the ones that do well in the heat and in the second half of the season."
The hope for EF Education-Easy Post is that Wegelius' theory is correct. The UCI ranking, as we were saying, is certainly better than at the start of the season, but it is not entirely rosy. There are many teams within a few points. And the relegation zone is not far away.
"True," says Wegelius, "it's better than April-May, but we can't give up. There are eight or nine teams packed into a very small group. All it takes is a bad moment, a few withdrawals, and the situation can become impossible. The gap between the teams above us and those below us is really small. Cofidis seems to have very few points more than us."
About Bettiol…
And who can bring so many points is one of its symbolic riders, Alberto BettiolThe Tuscan gained experience at the Tour. He won't be competing at the Vuelta and will be able to pursue important goals in the one-day races, which are his forte.
"Alberto is also a perfect example of our situation and our season," Wegelius explains. "He performed less than one might expect from a rider like him. But he'd been struggling with problems for a couple of years. Now he finally seems to have stabilized. We know how to manage his problem (colitis, ed.).
"At the beginning of the year, he competed fewer times. When I said earlier that Covid had a greater impact on us, I was referring to him too. Alberto, also because of his condition, suffered more from Covid. And then… On his return he was very unlucky with his timing, his plans.
«He had started well in Besseges, without having done any specific work. We had a big block of work planned right around the time he got sick. It was the worst moment And I have to say that he was able to manage the situation mentally well. Especially since the fans expect a lot from him. It's no coincidence that, just as he did at the base between the mountains and Switzerland, he fought at the Tour. I have a lot of faith in him."
Little Talent
Another boy who can do well and arouses curiosity is Andrea Piccolo, purchased in a hurry over the summer by Drone Hopper-Androni. Andrea will make his debut in the EF Education-EasyPost jersey starting today at the Tour de l'Ain.
«Piccolo works with Acquadro. His agent proposed him to us during the Tour or very soon before. And our team specializes in recruiting these kinds of riders. Athletes with great potential who may have had problems, riders that others don't want at that moment. We have the opportunity to get a top rider at a lower price. Vaughters is attentive to these dynamics.
«I don't know Piccolo personally, but by name. I know he has great talent and from what I've seen he's a guy with his head on his shoulders. It will surprise us."
Padun Balance
And one of the riders faithful to the “Vaughters method” is Mark Padun. He also arrived at a time when Bahrain-Victorious had put him a little aside.
The American team put him at ease, they were patient, and in fact in Poland Padun was seen in good condition, albeit somewhat thin. The Ukrainian will be at the Vuelta.
«Padun will be in Spain – concludes Wegelius – I don't think with ambitions for the general classification, but to put in some good performances in the stages. With the power he has, if Mark controls his weight he is very strong.
«It hasn't been an easy year for him either. Mark may not speak much, but the war issue had an impact. He's sensitive. He suffered more than us from not being able to do what he wanted."
