Team roster Lotto Soudal Ladies and U23 team for 2022

Both the women’s team and U23 team have been completed for 2022. There will be fourteen Lotto Soudal Ladies and the Lotto Soudal Development Team will consist of seventeen riders. With the women’s team, Lotto Soudal now also wants to focus on the youth.
 
“We want to take another direction with the women’s team and aim for development of young riders”, says Kurt Van de Wouwer sports manager at the Lotto Soudal Ladies and Lotto Soudal U23 team. “That’s what we have been doing, successfully, with the men’s U23 team for several years now and that’s what we now want to achieve with the women’s team as well. That’s why we have chosen to become a continental development team. We have Belgian talents in our team, but we also looked across the border. We want to offer the riders a balanced race programme with which they can get a taste of the Classics, but also with races that better match their current capacities. Then I think of the races that are part of the Lotto Cycling Cup for example. We want to offer these riders time to grow and learn, with the professional support of Lotto Soudal.”
 
As we already announced on our social media channels, German rider Marla Sigmund (18) and Dutch rider Mijntje Geurts (18) will be joining our team next year. At the Worlds in Leuven Mijntje Geurts conquered the tenth place in the junior road race and this season she won the Bizkaikoloreak, a stage race in the Spanish Basque Country. She has signed an agreement for two seasons. Marla Sigmund doesn’t only ride on the road, but also on the track. This year she became national champion in the madison and points race.
 
There are four other new riders who will be racing in the Lotto Soudal shirt next year. Two of them are Belgians: Esmée Gielkens (20) and Ines Van de Paar (18). Van de Paar claimed the Flemish junior title at the end of October. She signed a two-year contract.
 
British rider Josie Knight (24) won the silver medal in the team pursuit at the Olympics past summer. At the Worlds in Roubaix she and the national team claimed bronze. Knight wants to combine track and road and she chose for Lotto Soudal to make this possible. And also Czech rider Kristýna Burlová (19) will join Lotto Soudal. Last year, she got eighth at the junior road race at the European Championships in Plouay and she was fourteenth in the time trial.
 
Earlier, we already announced the transfers of Eefje Brandt, Katrijn De Clercq, Mieke Docx, Sterre Vervloet and Kylie Waterreus.
 
“In the future we fully focus on the youth with our women’s team”, continues Kurt Van de Wouwer. “These changes are reflected in the almost entirely new team for next season. Three riders remain in our team. Anna Plichta, who joined our team in 2021 and had a two-year contract, and Abby Mae Parkinson, who starts her third season in our team, are more experienced riders. Elise Vander Sande gets the chance to further develop herself as a rider.”
 
Dirk Onghena becomes sports director of the women’s team and will be in the car in most races. Since 2002 he was coach at Belgian Cycling and Cycling Vlaanderen.
 
While the women’s team will consist of fourteen riders, there will be seventeen male U23 riders. We already announced the ten newcomers, seven riders will remain in the team: Ramses Debruyne, Liam Slock, Luca Van Boven, Jarne Van de Paar, Aaron Van der Beken, Lennert Van Eetvelt and Lars Van Ryckeghem.
 
Lotto Soudal Ladies 2022: Eefje Brandt, Kristýna Burlová, Katrijn De Clercq, Mieke Docx, Mijntje Geurts, Esmée Gielkens, Josie Knight, Abby Mae Parkinson, Anna Plichta, Marla Sigmund, Ines Van de Paar, Elise Vander Sande, Sterre Vervloet and Kylie Waterreus.
 
Lotto Soudal Development Team 2022: Ramses Debruyne, Jelle Harteel, Branko Huys, William Junior Lecerf, Milan Paulus, Gianluca Pollefliet, Matthew Rice, Alec Segaert, Liam Slock, Luca Van Boven, Jarne Van de Paar, Noah Vandenbranden, Aaron Van der Beken, Lennert Van Eetvelt, Vincent Van Hemelen, Cédric Van Raemdonck and Lars Van Ryckeghem.