Cycling Transfers: Axel Laurance is moving to Ineos Grenadiers for the 2025 season. The Frenchman has signed a two-year contract and will immediately take on a leadership role in the British team. Does the 23-year-old have what it takes to be a superstar?
Axel Laurance leaves Alpecin – Deceuninck
This transfer came as little surprise. Alongside Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen, there is simply no room in a team for another strong hill sprinter. After just one year in the Belgian professional team, Axel Laurance is moving to Ineos Grenadiers. The Frenchman is being welcomed with open arms. This is exactly the type of rider the Brits have been looking for. Ethan Hayter has not been able to live up to expectations in recent years and is leaving the team, as is Jhonatan Narvaez. Michal Kwiatkowski and Elia Viviani are getting on in years. Tom Pidcock is expected to develop more into a GC rider. A spot has simply become available in the team, which Axel Laurance will now fill.
AXEL
We're excited to announce the signing of the under-23 world champion on a two-year deal.
Welcome to the Grenadiers, @laurance_axel pic.twitter.com/LaycQYmcKv
- INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) September 2, 2024
A winning rider on hilly terrain
There are plenty of good riders in professional cycling. But true winners are hard to find. Axel Laurance is one of them. The 23-year-old Frenchman won three stages and one overall in his first year as a professional. He has impressively demonstrated that the 23 U2023 World Championship title was no coincidence and that he can win both flat sprints and hilly races. Among other things, he managed to beat riders like Ethan Hayter in an uphill sprint and had already left climbers like Carl Frederik Hagen and Oscar Rodriguez behind. In a flat sprint, he made Marijn van den Berg, Orluis Aular and Bryan Coquard look old. And even Mads Pedersen had to admit that he could come up short against Axel Laurance.
Axel Laurance is a perfect fit for Ineos Grenadiers
In recent years, the British team Ineos Grenadiers – formerly Team Sky – has had to reinvent itself. The role of the dominant team in major national tours is no longer visible. Visma – Lease a Bike and the UAE Team Emirates have clearly overtaken them. Instead, the professionals from Ineos Grenadiers have increasingly appeared as stage hunters. The almost heroic daily victories of Tom Pidcock in Alpe d'Huez at the Tour de France and the opening victory of Jhonathan Narvaez against Tadej Pogacar at this year's Giro d'Italia are unforgettable. This is exactly the principle that will continue in 2025. And that is why the signing of Axel Laurance is a perfect match for Ineos Grenadiers. With the right helpers at his side, the Frenchman will take another step forward in the coming season. Perhaps he will become an even faster sprinter on the flat. But it is much more likely that he will become a little stronger on the mountains. He can already win races like Milan-Sanremo, the Amstel Gold Race, Eschborn-Frankfurt or the Arrow of Brabant with his skillset.