Vaughters has high hopes for his new recruits: "Baudin will be our breakout rider in 2025"

It is a tradition of Jonathan Vaughters and his EF Education-EasyPost to announce the competing riders as (one of the) last teams. The duration of contracts and transfers also often remain covered in obscurity for a long time. Even this year, the announcement of the 2025 team shows that Carthy, Cepeda, Chaves, and Shaw will also be part of the peloton in 2025. In addition, Vaughters also talks about his new recruits.

Stefan De Bod's future thus remains unclear. Andrea Piccolo's contract was torn up earlier this year after he was found transporting banned drugs. The Italian then made a remarkable career switch. In addition, the American team welcomes seven new riders, and Kasper Asgreen, Alex Baudin, and Madis Mihkels are expected to do a lot.

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Alex Baudin for his previous team 

Baudin appointed by Vaughters as one to watch

Vaughters is most looking forward to the performance of his French recruit in 2025. "I think Alex will be our breakout rider next year," team owner Jonathan Vaughters said in a press release. "I'm confident that he'll produce some astonishing results. His style is super aggressive, he doesn't hold back, and he's a GC rider who isn't afraid to attack and put it all on the line. He's built in more robustness with another grand tour under his belt in 2024, so he could take that to the next level next season."

The biggest newcomer is undoubtedly Kasper Asgreen, but the former Tour of Flanders winner has been in a form crisis for several years, with occasional positive outbreaks. "He's our blue-chip signing. With Kasper, our job is to help him get back to the level he was at in 2021 when he won Flanders and recapture that magic. He's a brilliant rider and has already adjusted to making improvements. You could see that with his sixth place in the world. He's returning to that high level quickly, and the indications are that he fits nicely at team camp." Vaughters said.

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Madis Mikhels for his former team

"With Madis, I honestly think he can win Paris-Roubaix one year," Vaughters believes

But the American former pro has more high hopes. "With Madis, I honestly think he can win Paris-Roubaix one year. At this point, it's a little undefined as to what sort of rider he is, but he's only 21 years old." Beyond that, EF has a few other unpolished gems. "We've got lots of upside riders I'm looking forward to seeing next season, riders like Lukas Nerurkar, Darren Rafferty, Archie Ryan, and others who used this year to adapt to the needs of the WorldTour. Next year, it's time for them to start producing. I think they're all ready to do that," Vaughters said.

Furthermore, the American team boss says that in 2025, the team will ride with Richard Carapaz for the GC during one grand tour, but exactly which one will be is unclear. In the other grand tours, they will focus on stage wins.

EF Education-EasyPost 2025:

Vincenzo Albanese (28)
Kasper Asgreen (29)
Samuele Battistella (26)
Alex Baudin (23)
Markel Beloki (19)
Richard Carapaz (31)
Hugh Carthy (30)
Alexander Cepeda (26)
Esteban Chaves (34)
Rui Costa (38)
Owain Doull (31)
Ben Healy (24)
Mikkel Honoré (27)
Alastair MacKellar (22)
Madis Mihkels (21)
Lukas Nerurkar (21)
Neilson Powless (28)
Sean Quinn (24)
Darren Rafferty (21)
Jack Rootkin-Gray (22)
Archie Ryan (23)
James Shaw (28)
Georg Steinhauser (23)
Harry Sweeny (26)
Yuhi Todome (22)
Michael Valgren (32)
Marijn van den Berg (25)
Jardi van der Lee (23)
Max Walker (23)

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