Leader of UCI Europe Tour comes to Team KATUSHA 

Belgian rider Baptiste Planckaert has signed a two-year contract with Team KATUSHA. Planckaert is the current leader of the UCI Europe Tour ranking, ahead of Bryan Cocquard, Dylan Groenewegen and Petr Vakoc. For his current team, Wallonie Bruxelles – Group Protect, Planckaert (27) won a stage last week in the Czech Cycling Tour. Earlier this season he won a stage and the Overall in the Tour de Normandie and was the best in two UCI 1.1 races, the Tour du Finistère and the Polynormande. Further he took the Mountains Classification in the Tour de Wallonie and the Points classification in the Baloise Belgium Tour as well as in in the Circuit des Ardennes.

- I have hoped for a long time that a big team would come to me, but it was a very nice surprise that it was Team KATUSHA that did it.  It’s one of the best teams in the world. I am really excited. The time is right for me now to make this huge step forward. I am riding my best season ever, most likely because of a combination of better work in the winter, another team, a year older and stronger, and just some more experience, too. It will be an honor to work for Alexander Kristoff in the classics. He is already a real monument. On the other hand I will try to show my fast legs in other races too. For me 2017 can start now, - said Baptiste Planckaert.

- What impressed me the most this year was Baptiste’s regularity. From February until August he finished 39 times in the top ten. That is amazing. Baptiste deserves to make a step forwards, in his case two steps, immediately from a Continental to a WorldTour Team. We look forward to seeing him perform in bigger races, too. We don’t expect from him the same number of top ten places; it will be most important that Team KATUSHA wins - with him or with someone else. I am convinced Baptiste will not disappoint us, - said Team KATUSHA General Manager Viacheslav Ekimov.

Team KATUSHA will announce more signings in the coming days/weeks.