For the first time since 1996, Giant Bicycles won’t be working with any men’s teams on the cycling World Tour in 2021, nor will we see any men’s teams using the company’s high-end Cadex wheels or components at events like the Tour de France or the Giro d’Italia. That appears to be good news for some of the world’s best triathletes, though, as the company has just announced that some big names will be riding Cadex products as they gear up for the Olympics this summer. (It’s important to note that the Liv Racing Team remains a powerhouse in the UCI Women’s World Tour and will use Liv bikes – Giant’s women’s bike brand – and Cadex wheels.)
Topping the big-name triathletes included in the list of Cadex riders is Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt (pictured above). The winner of the 2019 World Triathlon Grand Final in Lausanne also happens to be the world’s fastest half-distance racer thanks to his 3:25:21 win at the 2019 Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championship in Bahrain. In 2022 Blummenfelt will also be part of a group of athletes who will try to break seven (men) and eight (women) hours for the full-distance.
Other potential Tokyo medalists announced as part of the group include Canada’s Tyler Mislawchuk, the winner of the Tokyo Test Event in 2019, American Taylor Spivey, currently third in the World Triathlon and Olympic rankings and the recent winner of the Super League Triathlon Arena Games London, Beth Potter. Another potential Olympian on the list is American Tamara Gorman, who currently is ranked 20th in the World Triathlon Rankings.
The triathletes will be using Cadex spoked wheels for draft-legal events and the company’s four-blade carbon and disc wheels for non-drafting events.
