Logan Owen joins EF Education First as one of the most talented riders of his generation, having won the U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège at the age of 21 and a stage of the Tour of Utah the year before in the Axeon Hagens Berman race He is the first rider of his generation to win a stage of the Tour of Utah.

However, after four years of progressing to the World Tour level, the American found himself without a contract for 2022.

Owen, a 10-time cyclo-cross national champion and junior road champion, competed in a full cross campaign before switching to the road, battling with the likes of Mathieu van der Pol and Quinten Hermans for podiums in his junior years, At the 2013 UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Louisville, he finished just off the podium behind van der Pol, teammate Martin Budding, and Czech Republic's Adam Tuparic.

On the road, Owen has yet to match those results, but has been a solid support rider and a force to be reckoned with, helping Tejay Van Garderen to a second place finish at the 2019 Criterium du Dauphiné and competing at the Vuelta a España, but COVID-19 was affected by the 2020 season, and this year he was unlucky and lost the chance to prove his worth to the team.

"I suffered injuries and bad luck this year. The team said they weren't sure [about renewing my contract], but they wanted to keep me," Owen told Cycling News.

"I was supposed to compete in the Giro d'Italia, but I hurt my knee in a one-day race early on and had to sit out that race. Then, just as I was getting healthy and feeling better, I had a bad crash in Brabantspaille. So I had to miss the Tour de l'Alpe, the prelude to the Giro.

According to Owen, in discussions with the team, there was an air of interest in keeping him on, but he found out in September that his contract would not be renewed, and at that point his options were exhausted.

"I approached other World Tour, Pro Continental, and Continental teams, but they didn't show much interest," Owen said. By the time we had reason to start contacting lower-level teams, it was a little too late." We approached as many teams as we could, including Larry, Alpecin, Wanty, etc., but we didn't get much interest.

Owen had a solid September at the Benelux Tour, finishing 13th overall, the team leader behind Kasper Asgreen. He said he feels he still has more to give and does not want to see his career end now. He is considering returning to cyclocross as a last resort.

"I'm still in touch with Qhubeka, but I don't know what's happening there," Owen said. Doug Ryder has been given time by the UCI to bail out on the WorldTour. 'If they move forward, I may or may not have a chance. I just want to keep my options open. We'll find out soon enough."

"I'm still working hard for next season, whether it's cyclocross, gravel, or road. I think I still have a lot to prove and I want to keep racing on my bike.

"I'm reaching out to people I know to see if there is anything I can do to get back into cross. I like cross better than road racing, but I think I can have a more solid career in road racing.

But the emotional blow of the contract termination is huge, and the logistics of moving myself, my partner, two big dogs, and two cats halfway around the world are a nightmare.

"It was hard mentally," Owen said, "to be so late in the season and not know what I'm going to do next year. 'I took some time off and started training again, like I always do, but it's really hard to stay motivated.'

On January 1, Owen lost his Cannondale bike and all his equipment. He said, "It's hard to find balance. I just want to focus on finding something for next year. It's not easy to do everything at once."

If he doesn't get a contract, the cycling world could lose one of its brightest talents to the "real world."

"Maybe I'll get a regular job or go back to school. There are good nursing programs where I'm from, and I might coach cyclocross in Seattle, where I'm from. Honestly, I haven't decided what I'm going to do if [the contract] doesn't happen."

When asked what kept the team from keeping him, Owen said he was told that sponsors wanted the team to represent a variety of nationalities. He said, "A lot of people got cut this year."

He added, "I'm not sure if they're going to keep him, but I don't know.

However, he also admits that he made a mistake early in his experience at the World Tour level, relying on his natural talent and thinking he could avoid the relentless attention to power data.

"I'm not saying I didn't work hard, train hard, but I didn't understand what it took to be a pro, and my second year was really good, and then I got a little bit of a head start, but I didn't really know what I needed to do to be a pro. Tejay came second overall in the Dauphiné and I was a big part of his success. That's when I started to show what I was capable of.

"I'm not a big power number guy, I know how to race, and in my second year I showed that I could do power numbers, and I did a really good job as a teammate. So I signed on for two more years, and I think I was OK for 2020, but COVID ruined everything. It was a really tough period. By the end of the year, I had a really good run, but I reached out to them too late."