Racing

Simon Carr wins the Tour de Langkawi GC

Squad wins the best team competition

September 30, 2023

After eight stages of unassailable teamwork, Simon Carr stood on the top step of the general classification podium at the Tour de Langkawi today, taking the overall win of a stage race for the first time in his career.

With teammate Alexander Cepeda finishing in second place overall, just 49 seconds behind Simon, the squad also celebrated winning the best team competition.

Our six riders – Simon Carr, Alexander Cepeda, Odd Eiking, Tom Scully, Michael Valgren, and stagiere Jardi van der Lee – raced as one since the beginning of the race. They knew it was a case of keeping one another safe through the first four sprint stages before going on the offensive on stage five when the race would include its only summit finish. That day, the team carried out the plan brilliantly, with Simon and Alexander taking the one-two finish. Once Simon had the race leader’s green jersey, the squad fully committed to defending it through the final stage.

"This was a really big team effort and a really big team victory," Simon says. "The early break that went today was quite strong with 14 or 15 riders and one rider that was only a couple of minutes down on GC so it took the whole team riding really hard on the front to eventually bring them back, which meant we were able to keep first and second on GC. The whole week has been really great work from everyone. Everyone has been really invested in the same goal of going for the GC. I’m just really happy that it all paid off."

"For me it’s really nice to win the GC having only won stages or one day races before," he says. "I think it’s a good milestone for me in my career. I’m just really happy and a bit relieved to finish it off today."

Congratulations to the entire team for eight days of superb racing!

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Le Tour de Langkawi
Sep. 23, 2023 – Sep. 30, 2023
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Simon Carr wins stage 5 at the Tour de Langkawi

Simon Carr

Simon Carr was raised in the shadow of the Pyrénées in the south of France. His Welsh parents had moved there when he was a small child, so he would have the chance to spend his youth in the countryside. He started cycling on an old mountain-bike they had lying around their home and did his first races at his French public school. His family spoke English at home, but otherwise Simon’s upbringing was French.

He wasn’t very good at trials or downhill at first, but did very well in endurance cross-country. Soon, the nearby mountains lured him onto the road and he joined a local club. He wanted to dance up cols in the Tour de France.

After some great results as a junior, Simon made the move to the World Tour with EF Education-Easypost in 2021. He finished his first grand tour, the Giro; won the young rider’s classification at his home stage race, the Tour de Occitanie; and had a great ride at the Strade Bianche, where he finished 11th. He backed that up with a number of strong rides in 2022. Last year, Simon earned four big wins, with victories on stages of the Tour of the Alps, Tour de Occitanie, and Tour of Langkawi, where he also won the overall title.

In the future, our young French-British climber hopes to win grand-tour mountain stages and classics such as Liêge-Bastogne-Liêge.

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Alexander Cepeda

Alexander Cepeda has been riding bikes since he was a child, growing up in the high mountains of Ecuador, where he was clubmates with his now EF Education-EasyPost teammate Richard Carapaz. He got his start racing as a 13-year-old and just three years later won his first race.

The 25-year-old brings a wealth of climbing talent and recent results to the team. He was the best young rider and fourth overall at the Tour of the Alps in 2021. He went on to win the Ecuadorian road race national championship that season. At Le Tour de Savoie Mont Blanc, Alexander won stage two, which featured a summit finish on the Col du Galibier, as well as the general classification win and the points jersey. In 2022, he placed second overall at the Tour of Sicily and also earned the title of best young rider.

Alexander turned professional in 2017 and joined EF Education-EasyPost in August 2022, marking his WorldTour debut. His dedication to his teammates makes him an essential member of our squad.

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Michael Valgren

Michael Valgren grew up in Østerild, on the west coast of Denmark. When he was a kid, he would race between towns by the North Sea, pretending that he was in the Tour de France. Michael now lives in Monaco with his wife and two young kids, but his favorite road is still the stretch through the dunes between the fishing villages of Klitmøller and Hanstholm, where he got started.

The races he loves most are the classics. Michael shines on the cobbles and on short, punchy climbs. He has already won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Amstel Gold Race.

Michael was injured in a crash in 2022. It took time and a lot of hard work for him to get back to form, so we are thrilled to have him back racing with us.

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