Loana Lecomte has signed with a new Canyon Cllctv XCO team alongside fellow countryman and regular top-ten finisher, Thomas Griot, as well as reigning German XC Marathon Champion Luca Schwarzbauer. It looks like the new team will be a separate entity from
the Canyon Collective Factory Team that formed in 2021 featuring Emily Batty and Laurie Arsenault.
Lecomte took the elite field by storm in her first year in 2021, winning four consecutive World Cups and the overall title while riding for Massi. What makes it even more impressive is that at just 22 years old, she could still have ridden in the Under 23 field if she wished. Although the frame will be new for Lecomte, it shouldn't be too hard for her to adapt to the new set up as she brings with her the Massi team managers, Sébastien François and Claudia Baudry, and her mechanic Thibaut Rivière.
Lecomte will also be rinding alongside Thomas Griot, 27, of Annecy, France finished off 2021 with a top ten overall World Cup ranking and a podium finish in Leogang. He said:
| I’m super excited about the switch to Canyon. It’s a great chance for me and I believe that with Canyon’s commitment to their athletes, we’ll be able to compete at the highest level.—Thomas Girot |
25-year-old Luca Schwarzbauer, a student of industrial engineering at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, is also on the team and finished in fourth place at the German XCO Championships in 2020 and on the top spot of the podium at the German XC Marathon Championships in 2021. He said:
| It’s a big leap for me. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity. I’m certain that I’ve got what it takes to race with the best and the team structure and training is going to play a big role for me to push on to that next level and compete with not just the best in Germany, but the best in the world.—Luca Schwarzbauer |
We don't have much more information on the team at this time but it seems that a big goal for Lecomte this year is a gold medal at the World Championships on home soil in Les Gets, she already even has a custom Tricolore bike. There's also apparently more news coming from this team in February with another rider announcement. We'll update you on that when we have it.
Canyon: yes
Also canyon: yes
The Emily Batty Canyon Team does not feel like they have an absolute focus on winning races. At least Emily Batty doesn't, Laurie Arsenault maybe, but she is not yet on a top level. Also the Batty team seems more focused on North America.
I think Canyon wanted a team that's fully focused on winning World Cups and performs on the highest level of XC. And I think that's great because it means Canyon is invested in their XC bikes.
Loana has been dominant for two seasons, is the age when new stars often rise, is visibly leaner than many of her rivals, and has undeniably great skills (watch her high-post stuff that other elites can barely ride with droppers). If the only reason to suspect her is "she was really good", why bother watching the sport at all if success is automatically invalidated by suspicion?
The closest we ever got was this Duke paper that went nowhere:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181018141217.htm
@Mike-Jay the plasticizer tests fired for two reasons. 1 turns out all modern humans have plastic in their blood 2 glass lab ware.
There is no test for blood doing with your own blood. There has never been one.
All the top end of endurance sports athletes are genetic freaks with the latest sports science backing...both within and outside the rules. To crush the top woman the way she did IS a bit suspicious. Sorry.
Maybe I don't follow junior woman's XCO that close, but most of the top riders - from Vali, Jackson, and Tedaj on the road, you hear something about them on the way through juniors. Never heard of her prior to here not beating, but destroying the women's field.
As a side note Greg Lemond also was running the calculations of Lance's Watts/KG, and that also arose suspicion.
The reference to Lance was mainly for perspective. Was it realistic to think he beat all of the other top tour riders clean, while they were caught doping? Are you trying to say her performance shouldn't raise any questions? Some of those races were like Kramer in the dojo... Even Nino or Absalon at their peaks were not crushing souls the way she did for those 4 races.
Don’t forget that LA was also World Champion at 21. He was/is an immensely talented and driven athlete.
On the exceed she's on XS though:
esmtb.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/canyon_loana2.jpg
You're forgott Gabriel Wibmers cousin and Tomomi Nishikubo. Or is this the same DH team the cllctv?
I believe specialised supply 4 too: Quickstep, Direct Energy, Bora, and SD-Worx.
@deanw Looks like she has a dropper as you hoped.