Bettiol signs contract renewal with EF Pro Cycling

Since the 29-year-old Italian roared at Flanders last year in Belgium, everyone sat up and paid just that much more attention to Alberto Bettiol. And for good reason. 

From the moment he joined the team in 2014, and even after a year away in 2018, Bettiol says like there’s no better environment for him to grow and work toward future success. That’s why we’re excited to announce that Bettiol has extended his contract with EF Pro Cycling through 2021.

“Alberto has been a wonderful presence on this team for years now and someone we all absolutely love racing and sitting down to dinner with,” team CEO Jonathan Vaughters said. “His class is apparent, from Flanders to his more recent exploits at Strade Bianche. He’s a major part of this outfit, to say the least.”

Hear from Alberto below. 

Alberto, how are you feeling about resigning with the team for another year into 2021?

I’m super happy to stay in this team. It’s like having a second family. It’s the perfect environment for me to grow and it’s really helped give me a lot of confidence since 2018 when I decided to rejoin the team. I won Flanders because of this team, and a lot of the important things that have happened in my career is because of this team. I feel like the people here really trust me and I have a really great relationship with all the staff and all the riders. Having this kind of relationship makes it a lot easier to spend so many days away from home. This is really important and is one of the reasons why I’m super happy to stay another year.

What is it about being a part of this team that you particularly enjoy?

The idea of EF as a community that comes together through the power of different languages and wanting people to explore the world and share different cultures is a great message that we carry all over the world with us as we travel. It’s a message of being united and sharing experiences and I love being a part of that.

We all know that despite the global crisis we have all been trying to stay at the same level that we were at prior to the pandemic happening. Everybody is in the same boat and wanting to prove themselves. This is proof that the team wants to keep me and that they believe in me and in my potential. I was happy with my performance on Saturday at Strade Bianche. It proved to me that I’m still at a good level. For me, this is the best environment to keep on working in and keep on improving and getting results, and to further show my capability of being not only a leader but also a great helper for the team.

We are super visible with the pink, and in the peloton we are seen as a big team now, it feels like we’re growing bigger and bigger. We’re not always the best team, and don’t always have the best riders in the race, but we turn up to each race as potential protagonists.We are a group of friends before teammates, and that’s what is key to the success of our team.

Thinking ahead to next year, what would you like to see yourself achieve?

I would love to see the Alberto Bettiol of last year, the same level and more. I’m working to take a step forward because I still have a lot of goals to achieve for the team and for myself of course, and as a teammate to help big riders. I’m really looking forward to starting my next race this coming weekend at Milan–San Remo but also, most importantly, to be staying with a team that has really believed in me since the beginning.