Junior Men World Champions Quinn Simmons and Antonio Tiberi and Junior Women bronze medalist Elynor Bäckstedt sign contracts with Trek-Segafredo.
Trek-Segafredo have signed contracts with three exciting young prospects: Quinn Simmons and Antonio Tiberi, both 18 and fresh off winning a Junior Men’s World Championship title, will join the men’s team, and 17-year-old Elynor Bäckstedt, who won the bronze medal in the Junior Women’s time trial for a second straight year, will boost the women’s squad.
Elynor Bäckstedt
British cyclist Elynor Bäckstedt is currently riding for Storey Racing and competing as a junior but will make the step to the elite ranks next year with the Trek-Segafredo women’s team. In the junior ranks this season she won Gent-Wevelgem, stages 1-2 and the overall in the EPZ Omloop van Borsele and finished second overall in the Healthy Ageing Tour Junior Women. She also raced the junior track European Championships, collecting two golds and a silver and later two silvers and a bronze at the junior track Worlds.
With no specific U23 teams or races in women’s cycling, there is nothing to buffer jumping into elite racing. However, in May, Elynor showed she can handle the big step: She raced with the elite women in the Tour de Yorkshire – on junior gears! – the youngest rider in the race, and finished in 35th place overall.
At the Yorkshire World Championships, Bäckstedt had set her goals on gold. After almost crashing in the junior women’s time trial, she held on to win the bronze medal, and in the road race, in a sprint for the line, she ended in 5th place.
“I’m very excited to be joining Trek-Segafredo from 2020,” said Bäckstedt. “It doesn’t feel real yet and I can’t wait to meet up with the rest of the team. Trek does so much for women’s cycling, supporting female riders and helping them develop and treating everyone the same, that it is an honor to join them. They have so many experienced and established riders to learn from, so hopefully, I can find myself in the peloton, improve, show what I’ve got and help out in the team. I can’t wait!”
The Junior Women Time Trial podium at the Yorkshire World Championships. Photo: velofocus
We are really excited to have one of the biggest up-and-coming talents join the team. I personally am looking forward to working with Elynor and helping her make the transition into the elite ranks. She is known for both her mental and physical strength, which will help her make the big step up from Junior.
- Ina Teutenberg, Trek-Segafredo director
Elynor Backstedt during the World Championhips Junior Women time trial. Photo: velofocus.com
Quinn Simmons
American Quinn Simmons put on an impressive display of strength in the junior men’s World Championship road race Thursday, soloing for over 30 kilometers to claim the world title. The junior National road race and time trial champion moves into the elite ranks in 2020 and will join Trek-Segafredo in Europe, opting to bypass further development in U23 for an immediate jump to the WorldTour level.
Simmons also rode the Junior men’s time trial at the Yorkshire Worlds and just missed out claiming a medal, finishing in fourth place.
“I’m super excited to be making the step to the WorldTour with Trek Segafredo. Their proven ability to develop young riders and a history of success in the Classics makes this the best place for me to continue my development. Over the next two years, I hope to learn as much as possible and make big steps towards the goal of one day winning Paris-Roubaix,” said Simmons.
Simmons first showed his latent potential by winning Gent Wevelgem Juniors in March. He will move to Belgium, where Trek-Segafredo will support him and give him the best opportunity to further grow and develop his skills on the roads that host the Classics.
Quinn definitely drew our attention by winning Gent-Wevelgem and then both his National TT and RR titles. Obviously, he has shown his huge potential again by winning the World Championships. Given his young age, we want to let him mature slowly and not rush things or put too much stress on his shoulders, but we feel he can handle the one-day races at the top level.
We are convinced that having him in Belgium where he can be closely guided by our performance team and directors will be very fruitful for his development and that in a few years from now he will confirm the talent he is showing right now.
- Luca Guercilena, Trek-Segafredo general manager
18-year-old Quinn Simmons will be making his professional debut with Trek-Segafredo in 2020.
Antonio Tiberi
While Simmons and Bäckstedt will start with Trek-Segafredo as of January 1, 2020, Tiberi will delay his WorldTour debut for one year, opting to ride the 2020 season in the Under-23 category with Italian continental team Colpack.
Italian Antonio Tiberi, 18, won the World Championship Junior time trial title in Yorkshire and finished in 13th place in the road race Thursday. Tiberi is a strong climber and paired with his exceptional time trial ability is a rider suited to riding for the general classification. Tiberi and Trek-Segafredo decided that one more year of development in the U23 ranks will benefit the young Italian, giving him the opportunity to be a GC leader before leaping into the WorldTour in 2021.
“Antonio is a GC rider and we want to offer him at least one year at the U23 level to give him chances as a GC leader before he comes to the WorldTour,” explicated Guercilena. “With Simmons and Tiberi, we show we are focused on the future of these riders and the future of our team.”
For me, this is a dream to join Trek-Segafredo in 2021. I am very happy because it's one of the best teams in the world with a lot of young talents like Quinn Simmons. I chose Trek-Segafredo because it is very professional but it is also like a family. My goals in the future are to do some big Tours where I can learn from (Vincenzo) Nibali and the other big riders.
- Antonio Tiberi
Antonio Tiberi wins the World Championhips gold medal in Junior Men Individual Time Trial. Photo: Getty Images
In the last few years, Trek-Segafredo has had an emphasis on developing young riders and investing in its future. In 2018, the team joined forces with the Alberto Contador Foundation in the creation of the U23 Kometa Cycling Team. Recently, Trek-Segafredo signed two exciting prospects from the development team, Juan Pedro López and Michel Ries. The two Kometa riders will be joining former teammate Matteo Moschetti, making a total of three riders that have made the jump from the development team to Trek-Segafredo in only its second year of existence.
We have been on the lookout for young talents that we could develop within our ranks at the top level of cycling. This has been our philosophy since a few years already, and we have been keeping an eye on both Simmons and Tiberi well before the World Championships. In Yorkshire, we just witnessed confirmation of both their talents.
- Luca Guercilena
