Vaciador Racing Team, PASIG, Pasig (2026)

29/05/2026

NaisJUAN! 👌

Antoine Huby: “In the Philippines, I rediscovered why I fell in love with cycling.”

“Filipinos are incredibly passionate about the sport. Spectators would sometimes hand us water in small plastic bags, which locals would bite open with their teeth to drink while riding, or even offer us sodas during the race. That blend of popular enthusiasm and ingenuity makes the experience truly unique.”

Info: Antoine Huby’s contract at Soudal QuickStep was not renewed, teams were full with consideration of Arkea and Intermarche folding, so suddenly he found himself in a very bad situation until this April when he is relaunching his career on the other side of the world in the Philippines at 7Eleven Conti team where he already won 3 mountain stages at Tour of Luzon race.

“Until January, it was still okay. I trained in particular with Paul Magnier and friends in Nice. After January, I had a shoulder blade fracture that slowed me down. That was a very difficult period. And then despite a good end of the season I was told there is no room for me even in a Development team. I saw everything in black. I even stopped following the plans of my coach Hervé Gebel, who is nevertheless someone very important to me.”

“But then Édouard Bonnefoix showed me this team. I was touched by the team's welcome. For them, seeing a cyclist from the World Tour arrive was something exceptional. Many wanted to take pictures as soon as I arrived. It was weird by the way, because in Europe, I'm clearly not the one of who they usually take the most photos.”

“The adaptation was not easy, especially with Filipino runners who have a very different way of racing. The races are extremely offensive, with a lot of attacks and little control. When you play an overall standings, you sometimes have to calm down the race or manage the gaps, so it took time for them to understand my vision and why I asked them to control the escapes.”

“But I learned a lot humanly at this place. There, I rediscovered why I loved cycling. There, everything is simpler, sometimes improvised, but the passion is enormous.”

“And my goal is clear: to score UCI points, win races and show European teams that I still have the level to return to the European professional peloton. Each race represents an opportunity to prove my worth.”

Source: https://www.eurosport.fr/cyclisme/aux-philippines-jai-redecouvert-pourquoi-jaimais-le-velo-antoine-huby-toque-a-la-porte-des-equipes-europeennes_sto23302394/story.shtml