December has arrived and 2017 is fast approaching. A new year means a new cycling season. On 20 December the riders of Lotto Soudal will be officially presented during the team presentation. Below is the composition of the World Tour team, the Ladies team and the U23 team for 2017.
World Tour team
Next year, the World Tour team will consist of 28 riders. The strong riders are being loyal to the team. Gert Dockx, Greg Henderson and Pim Ligthart are leaving the team whilst five riders are joining us. The Belgian Enzo Wouters and the Briton James Callum Shaw are coming over from the U23 team of Lotto Soudal. The Belgian Rémy Mertz is the third rider who makes his debut as a pro with the team. His compatriot Nikolas Maes has years of experience in the pro peloton and as from 2017, he will be able to use that experience at Lotto Soudal. The Dutchman Moreno Hofland is the fifth and last newcomer.
Team 2017: Sander Armée, Lars Bak, Tiesj Benoot, Kris Boeckmans, Sean De Bie, Jasper De Buyst, Bart De Clercq, Thomas De Gendt, Jens Debusschere, Frederik Frison, Tony Gallopin, André Greipel, Adam Hansen, Moreno Hofland (newcomer), Nikolas Maes (newcomer), Tomasz Marczynski, Rémy Mertz (newcomer), Maxime Monfort, Jürgen Roelandts, James Callum Shaw (newcomer), Marcel Sieberg, Rafael Valls, Tosh Van der Sande, Jelle Vanendert, Louis Vervaeke, Jelle Wallays, Tim Wellens en Enzo Wouters (newcomer).
DeGent
Ladies team
Next year, twelve elite riders will be part of the Lotto Soudal Ladies team. Seven riders of the present team are leaving: Sofie De Vuyst, Willeke Knol, Claudia Lichtenberg, Emma Pooley, Anouk Rijff, Anisha Vekemans and Susy Zorzi. In September, Lieselot Decroix ended her career after the final stage of the Lotto Belgium Tour. In 2017, the team welcomes five new riders. Annelies Dom and Kaat Van der Meulen are two Belgians who will reinforce the team. Together with Lotte Kopecky they are part of the national team pursuit squad on the track. The Dutch Puck Moonen, the Danish Trine Schmidt and the Austrian Anna Kiesenhofer have also chosen for Lotto Soudal. Again, we have one youth rider in the Lotto Soudal team: Julie Roelandts. Last week-end she won the Belgian Cyclo-cross Championship for 14-year-old girls!
Team 2017: Isabelle Beckers, Jessie Daams, Elise Delzenne, Annelies Dom (newcomer), Chantal Hoffmann, An-Li Kachelhoffer, Anna Kiesenhofer (newcomer), Lotte Kopecky, Puck Moonen (newcomer), Julie Roelandts, Trine Schmidt (newcomer), Kaat Van der Meulen (newcomer) and Fenna Vanhoutte.
U23 team
Eight riders are leaving the U23 team of which five are becoming pro in 2017: Kevin Deltombe (Topsport Vlaanderen), Michael Goolaerts (Veranda’s Willems), Edward Planckaert (Topsport Vlaanderen), James Callum Shaw and Enzo Wouters (both Lotto Soudal). Alex Braybrooke, Steff Cras and Joachim Vanreyten are the other three riders who will not be part of the team for next year. Eight new riders are joining us instead. First, there’s Ruben Apers who got fifth during the time trial for juniors at the last World Championships in Qatar. Brent Van Moer, the best Belgian with his thirteenth place at the Junior World Championships on the road, will also ride for the U23 team of Lotto Soudal. Robbe Debuyck, Alfdan De Decker, Sander De Pestel, Mitch Groot, Laurens Huys and Gerben Thijssen are the other newcomers. The team will be composed of 23 riders.
Team 2017: Ruben Apers (newcomer), Jonas Castrique, Alfdan De Decker (newcomer), Sander De Pestel (newcomer), Robbe Debuyck (newcomer), Stan Dewulf, Robbe Ghys, Mitch Groot (newcomer), Steff Hermans, Mikkel Frølich Honoré, Laurens Huys (newcomer), Kevin Inkelaar, Ward Jaspers, Bjorg Lambrecht, Senne Leysen, Milan Menten, Emiel Planckaert, Gerben Thijssen (newcomer), Mathias Van Gompel, Brent Van Moer (newcomer), Harm Vanhoucke, Thomas Vereecken and Aaron Verwilst.
