EF Education - Easy Post has added South African talent Stephan de Bodd to its roster for the next two seasons. De Bodd has excelled in the time trial discipline since his junior days and has 10 years of racing experience. [Ineos Grenadiers teammates Richard Kalapas and Andrei Amador, Drone Hopper and Androni Giocattoli duo Andrea Piccolo and Jefferson Cepeda, and QuickStep-. Following AlphaVinyl's Mikel Honoré, the 25-year-old South African is the fifth signing for the U.S.-based World Team in the coming season.

De Bodde began his professional career with Dimension Data in 2016 and remained with the program when it transitioned to the WorldTour in 2019. 2020 marked the team's participation as NTT Pro Cycling in the Vuelta a España, where De Bodde first He competed in the Grand Tour. He continued to ride at the highest level in Astana for the next two seasons.

"Stéphane is a rider I've been watching for quite a while. He is an underrated talent and an important asset for teams like ours that are trying to achieve big results in hilly races," said Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of EF Education-EasyPost.

"His time trial was not noticed, but it is an example of his talent level. We look forward to seeing him reach his potential and become an irreplaceable part of our team."

It is in the time trial discipline that Debod has consistently excelled throughout his career, winning silver four times at the elite time trial Japanese championships, including in 2016 when he competed at age 19. Three years later, he made it to the World Tour stage.

"My first year as a pro was 2019, and I only had a three-month tourist visa to Europe, so it was a really challenging year. I did a lot of races like the Tour of Turkey and the Tour of Guangxi to increase my race days. And in 2020 I will be competing in Covid, so I don't have to say much about that," Debodt said in a team press release.

"It was difficult to start this year because of my illness. I feel like the last couple of years have been difficult, but I have still pushed for good results. The future shows that if I can reach my full potential, I can do a lot. I am proud to have made it through these years and to have learned a lot about perseverance and grit."

In his last season with Astana Kazakstan, the South African native finished seventh in the UAE Tour time trial in February and in the top 10 in the Sibiu Cycling Tour time trial and Tour of Slovakia prologue. He doesn't consider himself a TT specialist. He just likes to put his head down and prove his strength on any course.

"Sure, time trials are one of my specialties, but I don't consider myself a time trial specialist. I can get good results and have the potential to win, but I wouldn't call myself a specialist." [Of course, there is aerodynamics, and one rider may be more aerodynamic than another, but at the end of the day it's about who is the strongest and who can dig deep to get to the finish line the fastest. That feels good. But I don't think anyone enjoys the last few kilometers of a time trial."

He will be reunited with former Astana and Dimension Data teammate, Eritrean Melhawi Kudus. They will attend a team camp in December, at which time they will formulate a schedule and goals for the 2023 season. Until then, they will spend time outside of road biking at his parents' home in South Africa.

"It feels really good to be able to ride in amazing places around the world and see incredible nature. Some of the places I ride mountain bikes in South Africa are places you can't get to by car. For me, riding a bike is a way of life. It's one of the best things that exists."