When a brand new professional joins the WorldTour, the dial is going again to 0 of their profession. Achievements in junior or under-23 ranks temporarily faded when compared.
Many would possibly dream of competing with Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel in an instant, however truth hardly fits the ones lofty aspirations.
The fairytale promotion comes with a number of difficulties and daunting adjustments.
The extent of racing soars, racing techniques turn into extra advanced and management alternatives have a tendency to be scarcer. Then, there may be sickness or over-training lurking across the nook, given the burning need to turn their price and a brand new peloton to suit into. Being a professional bike owner is not only using a motorbike very speedy; it’s additionally successful buddies and influencing other folks.
With an eventful 2024 filled with highs and lows at the back of him, proficient 23-year-old Anders Foldager (Jayco-AlUla) delves into what it’s actually like for a first-year professional within the WorldTour.
No champagne on the contract signing
Foldager’s arrival within the recreation’s best tier was once a ways from unexpected. Already earmarked as a proficiency by means of the Australian crew within the autumn of 2022, crew efficiency director Marco Pinotti noticed his robust under-23 Giro d’Italia level effects and so they met within the Italian’s house town of Osio Sotto to talk about the crew and whether or not they may use him.
Quickly afterwards, Pinotti known as and mentioned they sought after to signal him as a professional in 2024. The Dane left the contract’s bits and bobs to his supervisor.
“It’s not like you see on TV where they meet the team manager, sign the contract and have a glass of champagne,” Foldager says. “Sitting alone in an apartment in Italy, you just receive an e-mail, you sign it online, then you’re waiting for the other party to sign it as well.
“So, it was actually a bit of an anti-climax. But of course, I was over the moon, so happy because from that day I knew I would be professional. I called my family immediately and told them that it had succeeded.”
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The Dane crosses the road on the Grand Prix de Wallonie after completing 67th (Symbol credit score: Getty Photographs/Luc Claessen)
He agreed phrases and signed on as stagiaire that wintry weather. The next 12 months, racing for the Italian Continental crew Biesse-Carrera, the Danish puncheur gained a level within the Excursion de l’Avenir and Giro Subsequent Gen, an indication of his attainable. On the other hand, his deal remained secret. “It was nine months from that moment [signing the contract] until it was out in the open, or something like that, so I couldn’t really tell anyone apart from my family and closest friends,” he says.
On the other hand, doing seven professional races in 2022 and becoming a member of their December practicing camp supposed that by the point his first camp as a full-time Jayco AlUla rider rolled round, the squad felt acquainted. “I’d been racing and training with them and working with the coach and doctor. It didn’t feel strange to come in,” he says. “Plus this team is always fun, no matter who you’re with.”
A perk of neo-pro lifestyles was once being inundated by means of crew equipment. “Opening that box of clothing with all the new stuff was like a second Christmas Day. Also, considering I was coming from UCI Continental level where you get maybe two jerseys and two bib-shorts,” Foldager says.
It went past attire to taking possession of a number of other Large bicycles too. “Here [at Jayco-AlUla], it is one training bike and one TT training bike, then three bikes for racing, one to race on and one for each team car. I’d never had a bike only meant for training before, so that was also something new.”
Matching expectancies to truth
On the other hand, getting any practicing executed in any respect was once the issue for Foldager. “I was sick virtually from October 2023 to March 2024, on and off, with different stuff. My immune system wasn’t strong enough to handle anything,” he says. “That was really stressful: I was about to live my dream but I couldn’t train, I couldn’t do anything.
“Just sit there, lie in my bed, do the antibiotic treatments, go to the hospital and the doctor. Every time I thought I was in the clear and started training again, I got something new and was back to zero.
“The whole team, the doctors and my coach, Joshua Hunt, kept me really motivated to take it nice and slow, doing a short build-up phase before I could race again,” Foldager says.
“I think it takes some pressure off a young guy like me. Even if you don’t live 100% up to expectations, they don’t rip your head off, so you can go into your work more relaxed. That also makes you do better work in the end. And sometimes your own expectations are a lot higher than the pressure put on from the outside. It’s important to have someone to keep you on track so you don’t rush things through.”
Springtime surprises
The teen made his first get started of the season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in February (Symbol credit score: Getty Photographs/Alex Broadway)
His debut got here in February at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad the place he returned to the crew bus within the opening 90 mins of racing. After using Settimana Coppi e Bartali for practicing, his season went from 0 to 100 in mid-April when he was once known as as much as Paris-Roubaix, a number of days prior to the race.
“I think someone got sick so they needed a rider. That was a huge experience. Maybe I was more mentally ready than I was physically. I got through but out of the time limit. I count it as a finish,” Foldager says. “Also to get the opportunity from the team, even as a reserve, was nice. I also did all the Ardennes races: maybe I was not ready to do any results, but for the next years, at least I’ve tried them.”
Stepping as much as the game’s large leagues additionally method a metamorphosis in technical talents and using skill. In the past a “big fish in a small pool”, the Dane discovered himself in an ocean of hitters. “I think what surprised me the most in my neo-pro year was the base level in the WorldTour,” Foldager says. “When you’re coming from the under-23 level, if you’re one of the strongest guys there and open up on a five or 10-minute climb, there are probably 15 riders left in the group.
“But in the WorldTour peloton, for example at the Tour de Suisse, everyone is still there. I remember the first time I had to swallow that feeling of looking over my shoulder after a hard climb and seeing all the other riders on the wheels. Thought you made the group? Everyone made the group. Here, everyone knows how to ride their bikes.”
Whilst Foldager mentioned he didn’t must do a neo-pro initiation – a practice in some groups, in most cases involving downing alcoholic beverages or dressed in fancy get dressed – the lifestyles of this in style customized underlines a stark reality: beginning as a neo-pro implies that (except you’re a super-talent like Isaac del Toro), you’re the backside of the pecking order within the crew and the bunch.
“There is a hierarchy and that’s how it should be,” Foldager says. “If Pogačar or Jonas Vingegaard come next to me, I probably don’t push them away. I don’t fear them, but I have respect for them and what they can do – you’ve got to have respect for those guys and the palmarès they’ve got. But I don’t give them a place in the final if I have to be there myself.
“Knowing people in the bunch matters. People who have been in the peloton for a long time have their friends, but they’ve also got their enemies,” he provides. “Some guys maybe have more enemies than friends and it’s just more difficult for them to move around. And if you have more experience, have been in more teams and are friends with a good bunch and you’re likeable, it’s easier to go around. You don’t win races by being nice, but you can also lose races if you’re a dick all the time.”
‘If it is under-23 or a WorldTour race, the successful feeling doesn’t exchange’
Foldager had now not anticipated to win in his first season, particularly after his chequered wintry weather. However he were given that monkey off his again in the summertime, with back-to-back professional wins at June’s 2.1-rated Excursion of Slovakia within the race-opening TTT and 2d level.
“When you win as a team, it’s so much better, everyone was so happy. Pinotti, our performance man, made all the plans and it worked out perfectly,” he says. “Then the next day, I knew it was a good finish for me, so I put my hand up for it. It was basically an uphill bunch sprint on a little 500-metre climb.
Foldager in Team Jayco-AlUla’s new MAAP-sponsored 2025 kit (Image credit: GreenEDGE Cycling/MAAP)
“If it’s under-23 or a WorldTour race, the winning feeling doesn’t change. Crossing the line first gives the same sensations from when you’re 12 years old and won your first race. It’s just more attention now. That took off some pressure for the rest of the season.”
Having picked up some fetching Maap-sponsored attire for the brand new 12 months, Foldager reveals himself acquainted with everybody and at house at Jayco-Alula, with a number of courses realized. The second one-year professional will hope for his personal pink patch within the Australian squad’s crowd pleasing new equipment.
“So far, going into 2025, I’ve had the perfect winter but it’s not over yet,” he says. “My level now is way higher than January last year. We’ll see how many chances I’ll have to race for my own results [this season] or how much I’ll have to go [work] for some of the other guys, but I hope to do some good results at the start of the season.”
Final however now not least, it’s now not all been an on-the-bike training. His English has come on leaps and boundaries, even supposing he’s nonetheless a way from going round calling everybody “mate”. “If I’ve been at a race with seven Australians, maybe sometimes I pick up the accent a bit, but I still speak it with a Danish accent,” Foldager says, giggling.
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