EF Schooling-EasyPost added South African expertise Stefan de Bod to its roster for the subsequent two seasons. De Bod has 10 years of racing expertise, having excelled in time trial disciplines from his junior days.
The 25-year-old South African is the fifth signing for the US-based WorldTeam for subsequent season, having confirmed Ineos Grenadiers teammates Richard Carapaz and Andrey Amador, Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli duo of Andrea Piccolo and Jefferson Cepeda in addition to Mikkel Honoré from QuickStep-AlphaVinyl.
De Bod began his professional profession in 2016 with Dimension Information, and was with the programme when it moved to WorldTour standing in 2019. De Bod rode his first Grand Tour on the Vuelta a España when the workforce participated as NTT Professional Biking in 2020. He continued on the highest degree for the subsequent two seasons with Astana.
“Stefan is a rider I’ve watched for fairly some time. He’s an underrated expertise that may be a key asset to a workforce like ours attempting to concentrate on large leads to hilly races,” stated EF Schooling-EasyPost CEO Jonathan Vaughters.
“His time trialing had gone underneath the radar, however is an instance of his degree of expertise. My hope is we deliver him as much as his potential, and he turns into invaluable inside this workforce.”
It’s within the time trial self-discipline the place De Bod has excelled persistently all through his profession. 4 occasions he has taken the silver medal within the elite time trial nationwide championships, together with in 2016 when he rode within the occasion as a 19-year-old. Three years later he moved onto the WorldTour stage.
“My first skilled 12 months was 2019 and I solely had a three-month vacationer visa in Europe in order that was a very difficult 12 months. I did so many races just like the Tour of Turkey and the Tour of Guangxi to get extra racing days. Then 2020 was Covid so I don’t must say a lot about that,” De Bod recounted in a workforce press launch.
“This 12 months had a troublesome begin due to illness. Within the final couple of years, I really feel like a lot of the time it was troublesome however I nonetheless pushed to get good outcomes. For the longer term, it exhibits that I can do so much if I can attain my full potential. I’m proud that I’ve gotten by way of these years and that I’ve realized so much about perseverance and grit.”
In his closing season with Astana Qazaqstan, the South African positioned seventh on the time trial on the UAE Tour in February, positioned within the high 10 on the Sibiu Biking Tour time trial and the prologue on the Tour of Slovakia. He admits he doesn’t take into account himself a TT specialist. He simply likes to place his head down and show his energy on any course.
“For certain time trialing is certainly one of my specialities however I don’t suppose I’m a time trial specialist. I can do good outcomes and doubtlessly win however I gained’t name myself a specialist,” he stated.
“In fact, there may be aerodynamics and perhaps one man is extra aero than one other however on the finish of the day, it’s about who’s the strongest and who can dig deepest to get to the end line the quickest. That’s a superb feeling. However I don’t suppose anybody enjoys that final couple of kilometres of a time trial.”
He reunites with former Astana and Dimension Information teammate, Eritrean Merhawi Kudus, who joined EF Schooling this previous season so as to add climbing prowess. They are going to participate in a workforce camp in December, at which period schedules and targets will likely be developed for the 2023 season. Till then, he’ll spend break day the highway bike at his dad and mom’ dwelling in South Africa.
“It’s only a very nice feeling to have the ability to journey in superb locations the world over, to see unbelievable nature. In among the locations I am going mountain biking in South Africa, there are locations a automotive simply can’t take you. For me, using a motorbike is simply part of your life. It’s top-of-the-line issues that exist.”
