EF Schooling-EasyPost introduced the signing of Estonian Madis Mihkels on Thursday. The 21-year-old had a powerful begin in his two neo-pro seasons with Intermarché-Wanty with quite a few top-10 outcomes together with at Paris-Roubaix.
“I’m tremendous proud of this transfer,” Mihkels stated in a press launch. “It’s the proper subsequent step for me to make as a bike owner. EF Schooling-EasyPost appears like a group with a fantastic surroundings and ambiance between the riders and the employees. I am actually trying ahead to subsequent season.”
The group’s CEO Jonathan Vaughters has excessive hopes for Mihkels, who gained the bronze medal within the European Championships elite males’s highway race behind skilled sprinters Tim Merlier and Olav Kooij, sneaking in forward of the game’s primary quick man, Jasper Philipsen.
“Madis is a powerful, promising rider,” Vaughters stated. “With our group’s backing, we expect we will help him grow to be an actual champion. It’ll be enjoyable to see what he can do.”
Mihkels has gained a stage of the 2023 Deutschland Tour and completed ninth within the Scheldeprijs and tenth in Paris-Roubaix this yr however hasn’t settled on any objective particularly for 2025.
“It is not that I simply have one race in thoughts,” Mihkels stated. “I wish to win subsequent yr. I simply wish to get right into a successful mode.
“I like laborious races. I am by no means the quickest man in pure, pure bunch sprints when everyone there may be recent. That is why I like more durable racing, the place I can go for the dash in the long run.”
He lives and trains in Estonia, even via winter, and is anticipated to affix EF Schooling-EasyPost for camp in Spain. The addition of Mihkels brings the WorldTour group’s roster to 23.
“For me, Estonia is such nation, apart from the winter. It is a actually good place to coach, possibly not for a climber, however for a rider like me. We do not have huge climbs, however we do have tremendous good roads with no visitors. It is all rolling hills and rivers and lakes.”
