Megan Armitage has become the fourth Irish rider to sign for the EF Education set-up. She will leave Arkea Pro Cycling at the end of the year and will move to the EF Education-Cannondale women's team for 2024 and beyond.
The 27-year-old has made rapid progress since she began racing in 2020 and this year became the first Irish woman to ever win a UCI-ranked stage race, claiming victory at Vuelta Extremadura Féminas (2.2) back in March, also winning the final stage.
And while he had been due to ride Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and would have been the first Irish woman to rider the ASO-owned women's Tour, she suffered a crash just before the race and had to undergo a concussion protocol. EF Education-Cannondale management said they were delighted the Irish woman had signed with them and believed she would be a great asset for the team.
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“Megan is still quite new to the sport,” said EF Education-Cannondale manager Esra Tromp. “But she has a really good attitude, and that is something that I really like. She is super eager to grow and is really eager to learn and that is important when you are a young rider, to be open to new experiences.
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"Megan did a lot of different sports before she got into cycling—running, hockey, athletics—but in the end, she loves riding her bike the most.”
Tromp also believed Armitage could be a race-winner, adding because she came to top level cycling later than most, and had more life experience as she turns pro, she was very well placed to make the best of the opportunity now ahead.
“That experience of normal life will bring Megan some extra calm,” Tromp said. “She will be able to enjoy her life as a cyclist even more and even better. And she will be able to help the younger riders who might struggle with that.”
Armitage joins the US team after Archie Ryan and Darren Rafferty were recently signed to the men's team - EF Education-EasyPost - where they will join Ben Healy, who is now in his second year with the squad and has already extended his contract with them for the next two years.
