EF Education First announced the acquisition of sprinter Christopher Halvorsen from Team Ineos. The Norwegian turned pro with the British team in 2018 and has since won two races in 2019.

Halvorsen won the U23 road race at the 2016 World Championships in Doha, one of many successes he achieved before turning pro, including two stages plus points at the 2017 Handzame Classic and Tour de Lavenir.

This season, the 23-year-old took stage wins at the Herald Sun Tour and Tour of Norway, respectively, becoming the fourth Norwegian to do so after Thor Hushovd and Gabriel Rasch in 2011 and Christopher Skjelping in 2015-2016 in the same year.

"From day one I had a good feeling about EF and their willingness to rely on me as a sprinter," Halvorsen said in a team press release.

"My impression is that the team has a good environment and culture, which suits me well. I feel the team is the right choice to help me achieve my goals as a cyclist."

"I am really a sprinter who likes to win and hates to lose. I want to help us win together as a team and grow as a team."

While new signings of young riders are usually accompanied by talk of growth and steady progress, EF team CEO Jonathan Vaughters said he believes Halvorsen will be a future Monument winner, or Milan - Sanremo winner.

"Christopher is a great talent and it is up to us to help him develop that talent. Our group of sports science and sport directors are motivated to make this man a champion"

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"As an organization, we are missing one monument to the trophy mantle. Halvorsen is just the ticket to put that last one on the mantelpiece."

Halvorsen is the fourth newcomer for the future for EF, which acquired Luis Villalobos and Sergio Iguita mid-season; in 2020, Jonas Rucci (Lot Kernhaus), Nielson Paules (Jumbo Visma), Magnus Kort Nielsen (Astana ProTeam) have already been confirmed, while two-time Tour de Lavenir stage winner Stefan Bissegger will join next August.

Matti Breschel, who is retired and training as a Directeur Sportif, and Joe Dombrowski, who is with UAE Team Emirates, will leave the team at the end of this year.