Patrick Bevin is heading to Israel Start-Up Nation next year. Photo / Getty
Patrick Bevin is heading to Israel Start-Up Nation next year. Photo / Getty
Where he takes his bike for the rest of 2020 is not quite clear, but Kiwi cyclist Patrick Bevin can already map out 2021 with a sense of certainty — he'll be racing alongside one of cycling's modern greats.
Bevin, last year's fourth-quickest man in the time trial world champs,this week signed on with Israel Start-Up Nation (ISN) until the end of 2022, the outfit that will also add four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome next year.
The Brit will leave behind Team Ineos (formerly Sky), with his contract not renewed for next year after 10 years at the outfit where he developed into one of the best riders in history.
Speaking from Girona this week, Bevin said the Israeli team contacted him earlier this year to discuss 2021.
"With everything going on, it came about pretty quickly. It's an exciting prospect to go somewhere that is really trying to push onwards and upwards; to me, that was the most alluring part."
ISN has also secured South African domestique Daryl Impey and highly regarded Canadian climber Michael Woods from next season as they build a strong and experienced roster to push for World Tour wins.
But it was the signing of Froome that made Bevin sit up and take notice.
"It's very easy for a team to talk about being bigger and better but it's quite hard to sign a four-time Tour de France champion," Bevin said.
"It definitely helped the process along, especially with the team only in its first year in the World Tour this year. That makes a big difference.
"He's one of the top riders of our generation. Even as a time trialist, I benefit a lot from a rider like that coming on board."
Patrick Bevin. Photo / Getty
Froome, now 35, has battled back into the saddle from a horror crash into a wall last June that left him with a broken leg and other injuries, but it's not clear if Ineos will grant him a swansong for this year's Tour de France starting in a fortnight in Nice.
Bevin has no doubts around Froome's ability to contend again in the world's premier race. His new team see a role for Bevin not only against the clock, but as an integral part of Froome's 2021 support team.
"They signed Chris to win the Tour de France. That's an exciting prospect," Bevin adds. "Obviously, he's coming back from injury and coming out of one of the world's premier teams [but] he's still motivated and committed to win one and sees his best chance of doing that with a new team. You get to ride that wave of pushing this programme to win a Tour de France, which would be a huge moment."
Until then, Bevin has a season with his CCC team to round out, including the Giro d'Italia in October, and is grateful to have his contract squared away.
"The team [CCC] doesn't have a sponsor [beyond 2020]. They've been pretty clear about that. It's a tough year to find multi-multi million euro sponsorship deals. It wasn't an option to stay."
But what's less clear is if he can go at least one better and finish on the podium in the world championships time trial, with September's event up in the air after Switzerland lost the hosting rights due to Covid restrictions around gatherings.
Bevin, who chose to skip this year's Tour de France to focus on the worlds, is pessimistic about the chances of another country picking up the event at short notice.
"The most surprising part is they haven't cancelled outright. We need a worlds, we want a worlds and to lose it puts a big hole in the season. For myself, it's a really big blow so I'm really hoping they can quickly pick something up or know where we stand.
"The reality is there's a pretty low chance we'll have a world champs this year."
