Just weeks away from becoming a fully-fledged pro, up-and-coming British sprinter Noah Hobbs is raring to “get stuck into” life on the WorldTour.
The 21-year-old will join EF Education-EasyPost on a two-year deal from January, a formality he has known since the start of the season, but that was announced in August after a standout 2025 campaign; Hobbs won eight times in his final year as an under-23 rider, including a stage at the prestigious Tour de l’Avenir.
“Obviously I had no pressure, and I feel like that’s the best way to race, on instinct,” Hobbs told Cycling Weekly. “I did a lot of things I wanted to do in the under-23 season throughout the first and second year, so it’s quite nice in the third year to get it all right, and it all to come together.”
In an era of teenagers turning pro, the 21-year-old plied his trade the old-fashioned way, first spending two years with Groupama-FDJ’s development team, before joining EF Education-Aevolo for 2025. His standout moment from the year, he says, was April’s Tour de Bretagne, where he won almost half the stages. “To get a win, let alone three, was probably the highlight,” he smiled.
“I want to show myself as a sprinter, a guy who can win races. Having the opportunity to do that helps in the long term, instead of going to the WorldTour and not being ready, maybe slipping back a bit. It’s good to be able to know you can win.”
Sadly for the Brit, his season ended with a broken collarbone in late September, which ruled him out of the UCI Track World Championships. Hobbs returned to action at the London 3 Day earlier this month, where he raced with his younger brother, Henry, laughing that the Madison handslings were “probably not the best” for his injury.
Hobbs’s focus now is on continuing his winning streak into the pro ranks. “[I want to] get stuck in, really, show myself and prove to myself that obviously doing all this under-23 is carried over into the WorldTour, and that I’ve taken all that experience and actually used it,” he said.
“Obviously, there’s a bit of pressure on yourself, but if I can get stuck in there, get some top-threes – ideally, I want to win a race. That’s probably the goal.”
Explore More
