For the first time in its history on this Tuesday January 31st, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty climbed to the lead of the UCI World Ranking. The team classification, which is published by the Union Cycliste Internationale each week, makes the sum of the points of the ten best riders of each team.
At the end of the first month of competition of 2023, the team of Jean-François Bourlart leads the team classification with 1330 points thanks to, among others, the victories of Kobe Goossens and Rui Costa on Mallorca, the second place of Hugo Page in the Cadel Road Race and the seventh place of Sven Erik Bystrøm in the Tour Down Under.
Jean-François Bourlart (CEO Continuum Sports):
« This 31st of January 2023 is a very special moment for our project! For the first time in its history, our World Team is in the lead of the UCI World Ranking. It is an extraordinary achievement of which we never thought it would be possible. I’m thinking of all people involved since the launch of the amateur club VC Ath since 1974 to reach this remarkable milestone today. It is a fantastic reward for the team of 105 devoted people, both riders and staff, working day and night. We are incredibly proud of this achievement, even though this position is only provisionally. We stay humble and continue to work hard for the future of our project, whilst enjoying this historical moment to the fullest. »
Aike Visbeek (Performance Manager):
« I’m very proud on our first place in the World Ranking and on what we showed during the races in January. The teamwork was of high level and our young generation showed nice performances in Australia, with World Tour podium finishes for Hugo Page and Julius Johansen. On Mallorca, we noticed the progression of Kobe Goossens and the excellent integration of our new recruitments Rui Costa, Lilian Calmejane and Mike Teunissen. This start of the season shows that we focused on the right elements in our preparation, which is a nice compliment for our Performance Team and the hard work of our riders. »
« On Mallorca we worked with a group of twelve riders in different compositions, enabling them to work on the details. Biniam Girmay, Loic Vliegen and Mike Teunissen had opportunities to acquire experience in the sprint train. Rui Costa and Lilian Calmejane immediately showed the reasons why we attracted them within Intermarché-Circus-Wanty: for their experience, their winner’s mentality and their capabilities to make their teammates stronger. Kobe Goossens, Laurens Huys, Rune Herregodts and Arne Marit took advantage of that. By intelligently selecting the riders, it was possible to compete for the victory every day with a balanced team and this gave the whole group a big motivation. »
« Our goal was to start the season well. This goal was achieved, but we also had our portion of bad luck. Because of the injuries of Aimé De Gendt, Adrien Petit and Laurenz Rex, we need to be careful and realistic when establishing our ambition for the first classics. It is a very special moment for our team to be in the lead of the UCI team classification. Kobe Goossens was the first one to make me aware of it last Sunday, which immediately put a smile on the faces of the rest of the team. We will enjoy the benefits of our advantage whilst progressing towards our next goals. The level of races will increase crescendo, and so will the level of requirements. »
