EF Schooling-EasyPost have showed the signing of former international champion Rui Costa for 2024, with group supervisor Jonathan Vaughters describing the Portuguese rider as a key mentor to a bunch of younger riders who will sign up for the group.
37-year-old Costa raced for Intermarché-Circus-Wanty in 2023, successful his first race of the 12 months on the Problem Mallorca and lately his closing race in Japan. He additionally received level 15 of the Vuelta a España and the Volta a los angeles Comunitat Valenciana level race, as he returned from a domestique position for quite a few years at UAE TEam Emirates.
Richard Carapaz, Alberto Bettiol, Ben Healy and Neilson Powless will once more lead EF Schooling-EasyPost in 2024.
America-registered WorldTour group has additionally signed 18-year-old Markel Beloki, 19-year-old Lukas Nerurkar and Jack Rootkin-Grey of Britain, Eire’s Darren Rafferty and Archie Ryan, and Jardi Christiaan van der Lee from the Netherlands.
“Everybody, together with myself, can develop along the more youthful riders. I’m rising annually, studying regardless of my age. It’s true that I love to assist however I additionally like to be told and give a boost to,” Costa stated.
“I’ve been a certified for approximately 17 years already and I’m nonetheless as excited now as I used to be 15 years in the past when biking was once the whole thing to me.
“The targets are to stay including, to stay successful. To start out this season through successful, to complete successful – that brings me additional motivation for subsequent 12 months. I need to stay entering into the similar path. That’s my function.”
Staff boss Jonathan Vaughters known Costa’s position within the group, announcing the veteran can “translate near-wins into wins”.
“A rider like Rui, who has been racing within the WorldTour for such a lot of years, is aware of easy methods to win,” Vaughters stated.
“What’s extra, he is aware of easy methods to translate near-wins into wins. His enjoy will likely be an impressive asset to this group. We’ve a handful of riders making their WorldTour debut subsequent 12 months, and Rui will likely be a useful mentor to them.”
Along with Costa and the opposite riders at the incoming listing, the group has renewed with Ben Healy in the course of the finish of the 2026 season. Magnus Cort (Uno-X) and the retiring Jens Keukeleire are, thus far, the 2 riders showed as leaving EF this wintry weather.