EF Pro Cycling has just released its 2022 roster that looks to build on much of the success the team had in 2021 including an impressive win at the Classica San Sebastian from Neilson Powless, a hard fought overall podium finish at the Tour de Suisse from Rigoberto Uran and a trio of striking stage wins by Magnus Cort at the Vuelta a Espana among others. The squad still appears to be centered around these riders for 2022. EF’s 2022 roster saw the addition of 11 new members to the 31-rider squad. Check out what the team had to say and all the riders that will be around for the 2022 season.

 

Press release:

With a new season comes new opportunities. Our 2022 roster is our most well-rounded and most international ever. Coming from 19 different countries, our 31-strong roster features 11 riders new to the team. We have riders suited to stage races, one-day races, and all types of terrain.

“This has the potential to be the strongest roster we’ve ever had,” says team CEO Jonathan Vaughters. “It’s a dynamic, fun, interesting, and very high potential roster of riders. We changed one third of the team so that’s a pretty extreme turn over, but that’s been with some very specific intent in changing the way that we race and changing what we’re focused on.”

Sports director Charly Wegelius agrees. “I think that people come here looking for a place where they can take opportunities. So I’d say that the new faces fit our profile. There’s some really exciting talent in there. There are a few riders who we may need to wait awhile to see that actually emerge in full public view because there are some pretty young faces, but there are other ones who are really in the right moment to strike. I think of Padun. I think of Odd Eiking. I think of Owain Doull. These are riders who are, in my opinion, ready to make the next step. I’m really pleased that we’ve got them at this stage in their careers.”

While the team has long held a reputation for aggressive racing, Vaughters sees this year’s roster as particularly versatile. “It’s an extremely opportunistic team that can win on almost any terrain and that’s what I want to remain focused on. More stage wins, and those wins can come in any way, shape, or form with our team which is the fun part. You can get an individual time trial stage win with Stefan Bissegger. You can get a middle mountain stage or a selective sprint stage win with Magnus Cort or Marijn van den Berg. You can get a mountain stage win with Esteban Chaves or Mark Padun. You can get a cobbled classic win with Alberto Bettiol. You can get a breakaway stage win from Michael Valgren or obviously Magnus Cort again or Neilson Powless. The possibilities this year are really far reaching in a way that they probably never have been before in the long history of this team.”

Given the depth of the roster, Vaughters is keen to seek new goals. “I’m most excited about the prospect of doing some stuff that we haven’t done before. Chasing stage wins, we’ve done that. We’re quite good at it and we will continue to do it but when I say stuff we haven’t done before I mean go after King of the Mountains jerseys in a way that maybe we haven’t focused on in the past.”

Wegelius confirms that the team will continue to take risks and create chances at every possible moment. “We are a team who isn’t afraid to try. We would much rather try and lose something or not get a podium place then quietly sit by and let races play their way out. If we can be on the front foot and be protagonists, then that’s who we want to be. When there are chances and when races open up, we want to be a part of it.”

 

EF PRO CYCLING 2022 ROSTER

/ Daniel Arroyave, Colombia

/ Alberto Bettiol, Italy

/ Stefan Bissegger, Switzerland

/ Jonathan Caicedo, Ecuador

/ Diego Camargo, Colombia

/ Simon Carr, France/Great Britain

/ Hugh Carthy, Great Britain

/ Esteban Chaves, Colombia

/ Owain Doull, Great Britain

/ Odd Christian Eiking, Norway

/ Ruben Guerreiro, Portugal

/ Ben Healy, Ireland

/ Alex Howes, United States of America

/ Jens Keukeleire, Belgium

/ Merhawi Kudus, Eritrea

/ Sebastian Langeveld, Netherlands

/ Lachlan Morton, Australia

/ Hideto Nakane, Japan

/ Magnus Cort Nielsen, Denmark

/ Mark Padun, Ukraine

/ Neilson Powless, United States of America

/ Sean Quinn, United States of America

/ Jonas Rutsch, Germany

/ Thomas Scully, New Zealand

/ James Shaw, Great Britain

/ Georg Steinhauser, Germany

/ Rigoberto Urán, Colombia

/ Michael Valgren, Denmark

/ Marijn van den Berg, Netherlands

/ Julius van den Berg, Netherlands

/ Łukasz Wiśniowski, Poland