{"id":331100,"date":"2025-12-07T21:51:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T21:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/331100\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T21:51:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T21:51:09","slug":"i-can-sleep-properly-now-knowing-something-is-signed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/331100\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI can sleep properly now knowing something is signed\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nThe deal ends one of the more uncertain episodes in Shaw\u2019s career \u2014 a rider who has produced consistent performances across the WorldTour in recent years yet twice found himself battling the market late into the off-season. This latest limbo was shaped by wider turbulence: the collapse of the Arkea\u2013B&B project<\/a>, the stalled Wanty\u2013Lotto merger, and a shrinking pool of roster spots across the sport. As Shaw put it, \u201cThere\u2019s still probably about 60 guys without contracts and\u2026 only about seven, eight, nine places left on teams.\u201dContract limbo, disrupted training and a bruising final push<\/p>\n

Shaw used his video to explain how the contractual delay collided with his training, routine and even his personal support systems. \u201cAll my memberships to prescription apps were stopped,\u201d he said, pointing to tools like Hexis that he used to track nutrition. \u201cI didn\u2019t really have a coach with the team, so I\u2019d gone back to my previous coach for a few weeks\u2026 I thought that was literally going to be like a week. Turned out to be nearly a month.\u201d<\/p>\n

The uncertainty became so intense that even decisions around planning training camps felt like financial and emotional gambles. \u201cWe didn\u2019t really know what we were doing,\u201d he admitted, describing pre-booked camps in Calpe and altitude preparation that he feared might turn out to be \u201cthrowing good money at bad\u201d.<\/p>\n

A crash during filming \u2014 a slip on ice that required stitches \u2014 only compounded the chaos. \u201cGravity won and I had to go and get my knee stitched back together,\u201d he said, appearing in the video in fresh kit the following day.<\/p>\n

Despite the turmoil, Shaw made clear he never seriously considered dropping back to Britain\u2019s domestic scene, where the Continental pathway he once used no longer exists. \u201cThere\u2019s no UK Continental teams now. They\u2019re all elite teams and there\u2019s not really the path back to a professional rank at the age of 30,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t really an option.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Shaw\"\/<\/p>\n

Shaw raced both the Giro and the Vuelta for EF in 2025<\/p>\n

A career built on resilience, now rewarded again<\/p>\n

Shaw\u2019s frustration was shaped in part by the performances he delivered this season: over 80 race days, two Grand Tours, top-10s on Grand Tour stages and a podium in the R\u00e9gion Pays de la Loire Tour. The year followed earlier signs of upward trajectory too \u2014 two top-10 mountain stages at the 2023 Tour de France and a podium at Coppi e Bartali that same year.<\/p>\n

With 2026 now secured, Shaw says the relief is transformative. \u201cSuper motivated now,\u201d he told viewers. \u201cI can sleep well now and enjoy the process a bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thanked supporters for the surge of attention his situation generated online, with his previous video surpassing 10,000 views \u2014 a rare number for his channel \u2014 and playing a tangible role in keeping his story circulating as teams finalised rosters.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The deal ends one of the more uncertain episodes in Shaw\u2019s career \u2014 a rider who has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,58562,145891,82,131890],"class_list":{"0":"post-331100","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-ef-education-easypost","12":"tag-james-shaw","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-transfers-negotiations"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}