Horse racing
It’s going to be an exciting July. Let’s go for stage victories.
June 24, 2024
It’s time for the Tour de France.
Alberto Bettiol, Neilson Powless, Ben Healy, Marijn van den Berg, Rui Costa, Sean Quinn, Stefan Bissegger and Richard Carapaz will compete in the 2024 Grand Boucle for EF Education-EasyPost.
Every one of them is a winner. From Grand Depart in Florence, Italy to the grand finale in Nice on the Cote d’Azur, they will light up this year’s Tour de France in aggressive style, chasing stages at every opportunity. Our 2024 Tour team balances youth with experience, strength in the wind-swept vineyards and sunflowers of central France with climbers born to fly the sweltering bays in the Pyrenees and Alps. Sit back this July, because we won’t. From the first stage to the 21st of this year’s Tour de France, every day will be an opportunity for EF Education-EasyPost.
It’s going to be an exciting summer.
Before the Tour of Florence begins, hear from our riders.
Alberto Bettiol
My first match in the jersey of my new Italian champion will be in Florence, my hometown, at the start of the Tour. It will be very, very special. The Grand Départ will be insanely beautiful. I know the streets very well. I want to win a stage in the Tour. I’ve been close before and I know I can do it. This year is very important for me. I’m not very young anymore. I don’t have many years ahead of me. Winning the Italian championship was one goal and another goal is winning a stage in the Tour de France. I have to make the most of all the opportunities I have. Winning in this jersey would mean a lot to me. You have to be ready and you always have to fight, because winning the Tour is not like winning other races. It is doubly difficult to win a stage in the Tour, especially for an athlete like me. I think the team is making a smart choice to go gradually. It will be fun and really exciting.
Neilson Powless
I think this has probably been the toughest year I’ve had with injuries and illness, so I’m delighted to have been able to pull through and still compete in the Tour de France. The nationals and the first half of the Dauphine reassured me that I am back on a very high level after the rocky spring. I enter the Tour with high ambitions and big goals. I really want to win a stage this year. I still haven’t gotten one. Winning a stage is my first and foremost goal, and I think I have the ability to do it. It’s just getting it right on the day, just going through the motions and using my energy wisely. I think everyone on the team is willing to take their shot. Each of us has something to prove. We haven’t had the smoothest spring as a team and everyone is trying to make up for it.
Ben Healy
The Tour is the biggest race there is and I’m really excited about it. It’s quite a milestone. The first step is to get to the WorldTour and the next is to go on a tour. I would love to try and win a stage. That’s what I’m good at. That’s what I want to go and try to do. I need a hard enough day with a hard finish. The first stage looks pretty good to me, but there are also some towards the end of the second week. Since the Ardennes, I have killed and done altitude camps and some good racing. My preparation went well. I’m excited for us to get our own opportunities. There will be days when I really suffer. I’ll just go all-in on the days I have to go all-in and save my legs for others when our other guys will.
Marijn van den Berg
Going to the Tour is something I’ve always dreamed of. When I was a child we often went on holiday to France in July and watched the match. We would see it in a bar or on a terrace. That’s the thing I remember the most, my brother and my dad and I would go for a walk and then go to the pool and then watch the game. I would be very happy if I got a bottle from a rider and I will always be a big fan of that rider because of it. Now, maybe becoming the guy who does the same thing is actually a weird feeling. You see it as a kid, and it’s super special, and now you’re a part of it. It shows that hard work pays off. I hope we can get some wins with the team. For me personally, there are a few stages that suit me, so I’ll definitely focus on those and then I’ll help the other guys out of the others to get them in the best possible position to go for stage wins as well. I will have some opportunities of my own, but I will also help the team. My friends back home who don’t know much about cycling always ask if I’ve done the Tour. Now, finally, I will be able to say yes.
Rui Costa
It will be an honor for me to represent my country and wear the colors of Portugal in the Tour. Ever since I joined EF, I always wanted to have the Portugal flag on my EF jersey. This was one of my ambitions this year. Now, when I wear the jersey in the Tour, I will have fulfilled two dreams. I’ve been through a lot since my accident this spring. I worked really hard to get fit for the tour and get selected for it. In the end, it worked and I am very grateful for the choice and for the team believing in me. I will do my best to fight for a stage, fight as a team and get wins for the team. It is the most important match of the year. The level of the Tour is a level that you cannot experience in any other race of the season. The team looks very strong and there are many stages for us. That will be our focus, to go and chase stages. I believe we will win. We’re getting a big one this year.
Sean Quinn
I feel like I’ve been waiting for this moment forever. Well, I’m really excited. The Tour is the reason I started chasing my dream of becoming a pro. The selection is an achievement in itself. I think it’s probably my proudest achievement to date. Wearing the stars and stripes jersey will be sweet. It’s an opportunity to represent the country on the world’s biggest stage. I’m just going to do my best and try to make everyone proud, because I’m going to represent a lot of people by carrying that flag. The race starts in Italy, where I’ve raced a ton amateurly and I know that area very well, and then it ends in Nice, where I live now, so we come full circle. If I could win a scene myself, that would be pretty epic. We’ll see how many opportunities I get, because I’ll be helping the other kids as well. I’m just happy to be there, but the big dream would be to win a stage. For all my friends, it’s the only bike race they really know, so they’ll be excited to see me. They’ll be like, “okay, so you’re actually a real biker.” My parents have seen me work on it for many years. They are very excited about it. They know they also played a big part in the journey and are really proud of me.
Stefan Bisseger
We are going for stage wins so I will try to do my best and hopefully come back with a nice result. I like the first TT. I would like to tell my son that I won a stage in the Tour. That’s the goal. Riding is one thing, but I don’t participate just to be there. I want to play. The Tour is such an important race. I always watched it with my father, all the cycling races, but especially the Tour. We basically watched it every day. Surely, he is very proud. Touring is never easy. It’s also always different from what you expect it to be. There is always tension in the company, and so many media and so many viewers. It’s much more stressful for us riders. I’ll drink my coffee in the morning and try to be relaxed. Good coffee in the morning and then everything should be great.
Richard Carapaz
Now I’m back, working hard, and not only prepared, but also excited for this tour. The Tour is the Tour, and it’s always emotional. After my crash in Suisse, I got sick. My form will arrive late but I will give my best for this Tour de France. My preparations before the crash were very good. The first week will be very difficult, but I will try to get through it as best as possible. Winning a stage is very important. In the last editions, I was very close, so the win would be very important for me, but also for the team and everyone who prepared for that moment. It would be the result of hard work and persistence. Last year was difficult. I had to go home. This year we will do it again. Everyone around me knows how much I’ve worked for this. We have a strong, versatile team. We can win on all types of terrain. The Tour is the best race in the world. It creates a lot of emotions and that’s what makes it special.