Vlad Dascalu Joins Trek Factory Racing

After two years racing for Trek Pirelli, Vlad Dascalu announced that he was parting ways with the team at the end of 2021. Today, we find out that he will continue to ride for Trek in 2022, but he will be stepping up to Trek Factory Racing.

The 24-year-old Romanian was dominant in his final year in the U23 category in 2019, winning both the European Championships and the World Championships, before a difficult year transitioning to elite in 2020. He says that he struggled with the long hours on the indoor trainer and the uncertainties around the race calendar. "I'm the kind of rider who needs racing, you know? There are others who can reach a good level just through training, but I need racing. I need the motivation that racing gives me. It helps me push my limits and reach my top level," he told Trek in an interview. His top results were a 30th at the World Cup race in Nove Mesto and an 11th at World Championships and European Championships.

With a full calendar in 2021, Dascalu showed his potential in the elite category with a fifth in Leogang in June, then seventh at the Tokyo Olympics. He barely missed a podium with a fourth-place finish at World Championships in Val di Sole in August, then capped the year with his first ever World Cup medal in Snowshoe in September, taking silver.

Dascalu will be the final member on Trek Factory Racing for the 2022 season, joining Evie Richards, Jolanda Neff, Anton Cooper, Riley Amos and Maddie Munro.


Dascalu just completed a training camp in December with the Trek-Segafredo road cycling team in Spain to get a good base of training and is looking forward to building on his 2021 results when the XC World Cup season kicks off in Brazil in April.



Read Dascalu's full interview with Trek Race Shop about his best memories from a stellar 2021 season, what it was like realizing his Olympic dream for Romania and what he's looking forward to most as part of TFR here.

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Racing and Events Racing Rumours XC Racing Trek Anton Cooper Evie Richards Jolanda Neff Riley Amos Vlad Dascalu World Cup XC