Irish cyclist Archie Ryan has signed a new World Tour contract with EF Education-EasyPost. The fly weight climber has been injured this season but had already done more than enough last year to catch the eye of the major pro teams.
His stand-out result was 4th in Tour de l'Avenir, though he also won several races, including a stage of Tour of Slovakia while riding for the Jumbo Visma World Tour team.
Ryan, an outstanding junior who proved himself an U23 global climbing talent, has ridden for Jumbo Visma Development Team since ageing out of the juniors into the U23 ranks. He is the second Irish signing to be announced by the team in recent weeks, with Darren Rafferty also joining and Ben Healy having already extended his contract.
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“It really is a dream to be able to join EF Education-EasyPost,” Ryan said of the new deal. “It has always been my favorite team. I remember watching all of Dan Martin’s really good results with the team, back in the day when I was a kid, so it really is a dream to be doing this.
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"If you told 11-year-old or 12-year-old Archie that he would be joining this team when he was older, he would be over the moon," he said, adding he had followed Ben Healy's progression with the team this year and last and wanted to progress in the same way.
“Ben is not just a mate, but he is an inspiration to young riders like myself,” he said. “It has been really cool to see him develop on this pathway with the team, and that would be the goal to try and follow his footsteps.
"I know him from racing on the Irish team as juniors, and since then we have been good friends. We have the same friend group in Ireland and now live in Girona. It is pretty cool to be joining a team where I already know people and have some friends. Everyone is class here. So it is really exciting to follow him, and be joining the team.”
