Racing<\/p>\n
Esra Tromp: \u2018She is only beginning to explore her full potential\u2019 <\/p>\n
September 9, 2025<\/p>\n
EF Education-Oatly is proud to announce that former British national champion Alice Towers will join the team in 2026.<\/p>\n
Still only 22 years old, Alice is a rising star in the peloton. She soloed to victory at the British road national championships in 2022 to claim her first win of her career. This year, she placed 10th on the general classification at the Tour Down Under. In the last three seasons, she\u2019s helped her teammates win stages as well as the overall at the Tour de France Femmes, the Tour Down Under, and the RideLondon Classique.<\/p>\n
Alice\u2019s goals, both short term and long term, are clear to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be a rider who competes in the final for a win,\u201d Alice said. \u201cI\u2019ve been missing the opportunity to go for the win. I\u2019d like to win a race next year, that\u2019s my goal. I don\u2019t mind what level, if it\u2019s WorldTour or if it\u2019s a .1, I\u2019d just like to be competing for the win. And looking beyond 2026, I\u2019d love to win a stage at a grand tour, like the Giro or the Tour or the Vuelta. If not one of those, then an Ardennes classic is the absolute dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alice is equally adept at stage races and at one-day races, but her heart belongs to the Ardennes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the more challenging, the more grueling terrain like the Ardennes classics or the one-day races where it\u2019s 160 or 165 kilometers up and down all day and more of an attritional race,\u201d Alice said. <\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely races with a bit more elevation gain suit me but not necessarily a summit finish. A bit of everything really. If it\u2019s a long, hard day, I\u2019m looking forward to it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
And if it\u2019s a cold and rainy day, that\u2019s all the better.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do love a bad weather race, to be fair,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t love training in it, but racing in it? Definitely. It brings out something else in you and being from the UK, it just doesn\u2019t bother me really. And when everyone else is hating it and complaining, if you don\u2019t let it bother you, you\u2019re already mentally slightly on a bit of a head start over everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alice describes her mental attitude as an essential asset in racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy relaxed mindset is quite a strength because in cycling things almost never go to plan. Plans change, maybe your program changes. It\u2019s good to be quite laid back and not let things like that get to you. You have to be a go-with-the-flow person,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
While Alice is always keen to support her teammates, she\u2019s eager to push herself. After five seasons of racing professionally, she cites the opportunity to test herself as a leader as one of the key factors in deciding to sign with EF Education-Oatly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m joining the team with a bit of freedom to discover what kind of rider I want to be,\u201d Alice said. \u201cI\u2019ll definitely have some opportunities to have more of a leader role but then in the bigger races I\u2019ll have a support role for my teammates. I\u2019m excited to combine that because I still really love being a teammate but I\u2019m looking forward to getting more opportunities as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
EF Education-Oatly general manager Esra Tromp said it felt like she and Alice were on the same page since their first conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlice is the kind of rider who still has some growing and developing to do, which means she is only beginning to explore her full potential. She is very down-to-earth and can see the intricacies of how a race can unfold. Plus, she certainly has the grit and ambition, as well as the legs, to go far. I can see her leading our team at some of the smaller races to gain experience and confidence, and I think she will become one of our key riders for some of the spring classics, whether it\u2019s as a teammate or eventually as a leader,\u201d Esra said.<\/p>\n
When Esra offered her a spot on the team, Alice knew EF Education-Oatly\u2019s reputation, both on and off the bike, suited her goals and her spirit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just felt like the right thing to do. It\u2019s a super exciting, fun team to be on. I really value that in a professional cycling team. Cycling doesn\u2019t go your way most of the time, so you do need a nice group of fun people to make those dips a bit less steep. The style of racing that the team displays in races \u2013 attacking, aggressive, all-or-nothing kind of spirit \u2013 that\u2019s something that I want to be a part of as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Welcome to the squad, Alice!<\/p>\n
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