Harrison Wooden says he was left feeling “confused” after leaving Cofidis and discovering himself available on the market for a brand new group.
The 24-year-old British skilled, who was beforehand supported by The Rayner Basis, not too long ago accomplished a transfer to the Portugal-based UCI Continental group Sabgal-Anicolor after spending three years with Cofidis, a French WorldTour outfit. Throughout that point he rode and accomplished the Giro d’Italia, Tour de Suisse and a number of other of the largest one-day races on the calendar.
“I’ve a lot respect and loads of love for the individuals at Cofidis with the group ambiance and riders that we had,” Wooden informed Biking Weekly not too long ago. “It was nice for them to place me in a few of these actually massive races however then I form of suppose it virtually backfired placing me in them because it meant I couldn’t ever do the marginally smaller races to try to make outcomes and actually present myself.
“It’s good attending to do races just like the Volta a Catalunya and the Giro but it surely virtually backfired because it meant I couldn’t do smaller races and possibly realistically go for a prime ten or issues like that.”
“That’s positively one factor I’ve been struggling to grasp with Cofidis,” he added. “I ended up doing all these massive races so the group will need to have had loads of confidence to place me in these from the beginning and been proud of how I used to be going. So I suppose that’s what I don’t perceive as in the event that they’d needed me to do outcomes then I ought to possibly have been doing the marginally smaller races. It left me a bit confused on the finish.”
Wooden continued: “Within the Giro I used to be form of in and round it on a couple of events on a number of the more durable levels proper up till the ultimate climbs. I used to be capable of be there to assist guys like Simon Geschke within the GC and different issues so I used to be actually proud of that.
“Then within the Tour de Suisse it was related, and I used to be solely getting dropped with six or seven kilometres to go so it was clear that I’d made some good progress. So I believe I’m a bit dissatisfied to probably not have one other likelihood as I felt like subsequent 12 months could possibly be one other massive stepping stone and a little bit of a breakthrough doubtlessly.”
Regardless of his preliminary disappointment at being let go, Wooden defined that he’s decided to make use of his frustration to gas his performances going right into a recent marketing campaign along with his new group. One other French WorldTour group had been briefly all for his signature earlier than he acquired a experience elsewhere, he additionally stated.
His new group, Sabgal–Anicolor, is at Continental-level however Wooden says that he can already see they’ll punch effectively above their weight.
He stated: “I had the chance from Sabgal–Anicolor and thought truly I may gain advantage from being elsewhere the place the group would possibly assist me in races loads and I can repay the favour at different factors and I can then get some outcomes with the purpose of transferring again to the WorldTour at one other level.
“If I am sincere the group we’ve acquired isn’t a Continental group roster, it is extra like a Professional Continental squad. It’s the tools that helps with that too, we’ve acquired Issue bikes, light-weight Princeton wheels, good package, altitude coaching camps. So the group is sort of a greater degree setup simply with a Continental licence.”
He will likely be joined at Sabgal by fellow Brit Mason Hollyman, who has signed from Israel-Premier Tech. It is usually not the top of WorldTour goals, with Julius Johansen becoming a member of UAE Staff Emirates from the Portuguese group this winter.