EF Education First announce riders for Dirty Kanza

Ted King is going to have some WorldTour level competition at Dirty Kanza this year as EF Education First is slated to send some top names to the premier gravel racing event.

I gotta say, I’m really enjoying watching the trajectory of this EF team:

• 2018: Were going to focus less on Euro bike racing and just do fun stuff for our sponsors
• 2019: Win the Tour of Flanders right off the bat

Some great quotes in the press release:

“To prepare for Kanza, I spent a week riding on the front at Tour of California,” says Howes. “I also did a 155-mile ride on a mountain bike almost exclusively through deep desert sand with nothing but the hot sun and ravens for company. That was four years ago, and I just now recovered, so I expect to be flying next week.

“Most importantly, my grandparents are also from Kansas, so this will most definitely give me a major spiritual and potentially genetic upper hand,” Howes jokes.

“I’m thinking of that moment when only a pancake flat, windy ‘schlog’ consumes my awareness, where I wish I had never started but somewhere deep and fleeting I want it to last forever,” says Phinney. “I’m here to have fun and ride my bike because I love it.”

EF’s team bus has to be about the chillest place in pro cycling.