This season, for the first time in over 30 years, Jumbo-Visma will ride with a British rider on their men’s roster. The Dutch team, which topped the UCI’s 2022 rankings, welcomed 21-year old Thomas Gloag as a trainee last year, elevating him to their WorldTour squad for 2023.
Then earlier this month, the team invited 19-year-old Finlay Pickering, formerly of Groupama-FDJ’s Continental squad, to their winter training camp in Alicante, Spain.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Grischa Niermann, Jumbo-Visma sports director, praised the wealth of British riders breaking into the men’s peloton.
“I think right now there are a lot of young riders coming out of Britain who are really big talents,” said Niermann.
Asked if Jumbo-Visma are consciously monitoring British riders, Niermann replied “no”.
“[We look at] talents that we think suit our programme,” he added. “It’s probably not likely that that is a Colombian rider, for example, but Northern Europeans, Scandinavians, British riders.
“We didn’t sign Thomas and we didn’t invite Finlay because they are British, but because they’re big talents.”
This story is from the January 26, 2023 edition of CYCLING WEEKLY.
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This story is from the January 26, 2023 edition of CYCLING WEEKLY.
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