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Pro Log: Lizzie Deignan announces retirement; Ineos Grenadiers take on German development team while Trinity forced to leave road; Astana Qazaqstan keep hiring
Welcome back to another edition of Pro Log. I know, I said last week’s article was the final one until 2025, but things have been happening, so we’re back. Here’s a rundown of the latest cyclocross results before we get started:
- Hamme II Men, X²O Badkamers Trofee cyclocross, Sun 17th Nov: 1st Niels Vandeputte, Alpecin-Deceuninck Development, 1h 00min 49sec; 2nd Eli Iserbyt, Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal, +2sec; 3rd Felipe Orts Lloret, La Vila Joiosa-Neteo, +8sec.
- Hamme II Women, X²O Badkamers Trofee cyclocross, Sun 17th Nov: 1st Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Fenix-Deceuninck, 43min 53sec; 2nd Lucinda Brand, Baloise Trek Lions, +1sec; 3rd Sara Casasola, Crelan-Correndon, +6sec.
Lizzie Deignan sets her retirement date
Former Road Race World Champion Lizzie Deignan has announced she will retire at the end of the 2025 season. Deignan, who revealed the news alongside a one-year extension with Lidl-Trek, said, ‘I just don’t want to say goodbye to [my children] anymore. I have no ego or necessity to retire at the top.’
The 35-year-old from Otley, West Yorkshire, has multiple stage races and Classics in her palmarès, including Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and she is also a four-time National Road Race Champion and Olympic silver medallist. One of her most memorable victories came in the inaugural edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes in 2021, where she launched a solo attack with over 80km to go to win the first women’s Hell of the North.
Ineos Grenadiers launch development programme
From 2025, Ineos Grenadiers will launch a development partnership with German Continental team Lotto-Kern Haus-PSD Bank to develop and prepare young riders for WorldTour level racing.
Ineos Grenadiers’ performance director, Scott Drawer, said, ‘Key riders will be selected and placed with the Lotto Kern-Haus team while still being coached and supported by Ineos Grenadiers staff. We see this as a “finishing school” for young talent before their transition to the WorldTour, akin to that of a loan club in professional football.’
Ineos Grenadiers already has an internal programme called ‘Ascent’ that identifies young talent, including the highly successful British rider Josh Tarling, who has national and European time-trial titles in addition to a World Championships bronze from 2023. This expansion of Ascent will mark the first time that the team has a development partner. Other WorldTour teams such as Lidl-Trek, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and UAE Team Emirates have already partnered with Continental squads for development.
Astana hire Pete Kennaugh, Alex Dowsett and more
Laurenzo Lapage, Pete Kennaugh and Dario Cataldo will join Astana Qazaqstan for 2025 in sports director roles. Lapage previously worked as a directeur sportif for a decade with Jayco-AlUla, while Kennaugh managed the Trinity Racing team. Cataldo retired from racing at the end of this year with Lidl-Trek having rode for Astana from 2015 to 2019.
The news comes hot on the heels of the team’s announcement that Alex Dowsett will work for Astana Qazaqstan as a performance engineer, helping riders with positioning on the bike, preparing for time-trials and testing equipment. He joins Helmut Dollinger, Manuel Crespo and Morgan Saussine on the performance side.
Trinity Racing to leave the road scene
Trinity Racing look set to scrap road racing from their calendar going forwards. In an interview with Cycling Weekly, previous team manager Pete Kennaugh said, ‘I think they’re going to continue, but only as a mountain bike team. That’s not confirmed yet, just from the last conversations I’ve had with some of the guys who work there.’
It’s another blow in a series of hits for the British road racing scene in recent years. The lineup of British men’s Continental teams used to include the likes of JLT-Condor, Madison-Genesis, Canyon-Eisberg and One Pro Cycling. Now the only remaining team for 2025 is Saint Piran.
See you soon.
The post Pro Log: Lizzie Deignan announces retirement; Ineos Grenadiers take on German development team while Trinity forced to leave road; Astana Qazaqstan keep hiring appeared first on Cyclist.