‘I contacted Elisa Longo Borghini and she replied in 10 minutes’ - how 18-year-old Izzy Sharp forged her WorldTour path

The teenager is about to start her first pro season with Lidl-Trek

Izzy Sharp descending in Lidl-Trek kit
(Image credit: Steel City / Lidl-Trek)

There is no easy route to the top of world cycling. Izzy Sharp knows that. So when, at the age of 17, the Brit was entering her second and final year in the junior ranks, she decided to make her dreams come to her. 

A powerful rouleur and specialist against the clock, the teenager came through the same British Cycling cohort as Zoe Bäckstedt, who joined EF Education-TIBCO-SVB as a stagiaire in August 2022. 

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