Written by Equipe 44 at 00:18 20/5-2011
Despite being back in the saddle after recovering from a broken hand that kept him out of the Essex Tour, it has been announced that Jean de Noviant, the last surviving element of the original Equipe 44 roster, will be leaving the team shortly. Both the rider and the team have agreed to a mutual rescission of his contract.
As de Noviant explained, “the time to embrace a new challenge has come. I would like to thank all my fellow teammates who worked with me for all these seasons, namely Salim Wajeeh, Moritz Spatz, Tao Yang, Sin Kiat Safiq Rahim, and…well, all the others.” said the teary-eyed rider. The list indeed is almost endless. After all, every single cyclist who raced for Equipe 44 worked with Jean de Noviant. “I would also like to thank all the staff and my team manager who believed in me right from the start.”
“It is a sad day for everyone in the team.” – team manager Toni said. “Jean has been with us since the beginning and we are very grateful for the work he did.”
Jean de Noviant is to be officially released from his contract soon. However, his future might still be linked with the team. Team manager Toni added that “The Eternal One” will be primarily focused on finding a new team. If de Noviant fails to do so, he will retire from the sport as a rider and will join Equipe 44 as an adviser for the young talents that eventually join the team. “Experience is invaluable and I want to pass everything I know to the kids.” – de Noviant affirmed. “We have 2 young, home-grown talents who joined us recently and I feel they can be something. I’ll help them as much as I can.”
Jean de Noviant achieved a sole win during his career (ironically on a time trial, his biggest weakness) but nevertheless provided co-leadership roles with Tao Yang, Falk Caldwell, Salim Wajeeh and Alberto Mori, starting his career with a 27th place in Blockhaus - Blockhaus #4 in the lowest Division of the OCM ranking. Here is a summary of his best results:
1. Ha Tsepo ITT #1
5. Vép - Vép (ITT) #3
10. Thun Climbs #7
13. Akureyri #3
14. Arica Time Trial #3
15. Kingston - Black Hill #1
17. Malauce - Mount Ventoux #8
18. Paluknys - Paluknys #3
20. Tipitapa Time Trial #3
Hopefully, it won't be a "farewell" but a "see you later" for Jean. But he won't be forgotten as his influence on the team will last forever. One must remeber that races appear before our eyes and vanish afterwards, but the cyclists, no. Those are eternal.
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