EF Education-EasyPost won the Tour of the Alps with Simon Kerr holding off Georg Steinhauser on the final stage to Brunico, while Hugh Carthy took second place overall behind winner Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers)! ...

Jefferson Cepeda also had a strong performance in the mountain stages, coming close to victory but losing the battle for the mountain prize on the final day.

EF Education-Easy Post has 14 wins in the spring of 2023, along with Ben Healy, who had impressive performances and second places in the Amstel Gold Race and De Brabantse Pijl. Nielson Powles has had his share of crashes recently, but he was in a quality chase group, finishing third in the Dwars door Hlaanderen and fifth in the Tour of Flanders behind UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogachar.

Kerr and Powles will lead EF Education Easy Post in Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday.

The U.S.-registered WorldTour team has yet to win a WorldTour stage race in 2023, but is in ninth place in the UCI team standings, cautiously above the relegation zone after 2026.

New team leader Richard Karapas is still building up his form after a tonsillectomy in mid-December, but EF Education-Easy Post has a Giro d'Italia team with Kersee, Rigoberto Urán, Cepeda, Healy, and stage hunter s Magnus Court.

Kerr will target other races in May, and the team hopes to win below the World Tour level rather than suffer in the Grand Tours.

"Any win is important. It's been a long time since my last win. In 2021 I had a good start with the team, but in 2022 I had some injuries and illnesses. This year I came back stronger and had a breakthrough in Catalunya. I had my chance and I took it."

Kersee likes to play the leg game, but he rode impressively in the Tour de l'Alps. He came close to winning the first stage and then finished in the lead group in each subsequent stage. He only lost time to Geoghegan Hart due to time bonuses and rode well with the other contenders and climbers in the Giro d'Italia.

"Every race is a goal for me, and I'm not a rider who likes to put all his eggs in one basket," he explained to Cycling News.

"Every race is worth something now, like last year's race for ranking points and a spot in the World Tour. In the long term it's a stepping stone to the Giro d'Italia, but in the short term it was definitely a goal."

Kersee finished a consistent 8th overall in Tirreno-Adriatico and has been training at home in Spain ever since.

He has competed in the Giro d'Italia five times, finishing eighth in 2021 and ninth in 2022. Time trials are his weak point, but he could do better in May.

"I'll start with overall ambitions and see what happens," he said, suggesting that he may compete in the Tour de France, with the Vuelta a España being an option.

"Richard Karapas will go into the Tour with great hopes, but if I can help him, that would be good. But there are a lot of races to overcome before that."