While the official team presentation is still more than two weeks away (December 20), Lotto Soudal has officially announced the roster for its WorldTour team, along with its Ladies team and under-23 (U23) team, for 2017.
The men’s WorldTour squad will consist of 28 riders, with the most notable departures being Belgian Gert Dockx, New Zealander Greg Henderson (UnitedHealthcare) and Dutchman Pim Ligthart (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij). Five new riders join the squad, including Belgian Enzo Wouters and Briton James Callum Shaw, both of whom are coming over from the U23 team.
Belgian Rémy Mertz is the third rider who makes his debut as a pro with the team. His compatriot Nikolas Maes also joins the team with seven years experience riding with QuickStep. Dutchman Moreno Hofland is the fifth and final 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).
Ladies team
Next year, 12 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. Also on board is Dutch rider Puck Moonen, Dane Trine Schmidt and Austrian Anna Kiesenhofer.
Once again the team has signed one youth developmental rider in Julie Roelandts, who won the Belgian cyclocross championships in the 14-year-old division last weekend.
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
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.
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