Bronze medal for Florian Vermeersch at the U23 time trial world championships

Lotto Soudal rider Florian Vermeersch conquered the bronze medal at the U23 world time trial championships in Belgium. On a 30 kilometres long course between Knokke-Heist and Bruges, Vermeersch stopped the clock at 34’41”, which resulted in a third place. The Dane Johan Price-Pejtersen took the world title, Australian Luke Plapp finished in second place.

“The bronze medal obviously makes me very happy”, says Florian Vermeersch.“Initially, there was some disappointment as I came so close to Plapp’s time. But in the end, I finish at over ten seconds from the world champion, so I have to be realistic. I was able to execute the pacing plan to perfection. The idea was to take it relatively easy at the start and then accelerate towards the second intermediate point and afterwards go full gas. In the final kilometre, I still had a nice target in front of me, which allowed me to give it my all one last time. And of course, the crowd was amazing and gave me an additional boost.”

“Last year, I was very disappointed that there were no world championships for U23 riders. From then on, the idea to participate at the worlds in my home country took shape. The Worlds were in my head the whole year, but specific training only started before and after my participation at La Vuelta. This performance gives me confidence for what’s to come. In the future, it’s not the ambition to become a TT specialist, but it’s a big asset to have in one-week races for example. And maybe it’s good that I don’t focus on one discipline, which allows me to go in different directions. Because winning Paris-Roubaix is the ultimate dream.”

John Lelangue, General Manager at Lotto Soudal, is also proud of the youngster’s performance.

“Of course, I am very proud of what Florian achieved. It is also a nice confirmation that we are reaping the rewards of our youth policy. Within the Lotto Soudal U23 team of Kurt Van de Wouwer, we gave Florian the time to slowly but surely grow. Mid last year, he joined our WorldTeam and evolved into the rider who now took bronze at the world championships. And of course, it doesn’t end with Florian, we keep on building the future”, concludes Lelangue.

For Vermeersch, the world championships adventure continues on Friday. Then, he will be at the start line of the U23 road race, together with Lotto Soudal U23 riders Arnaud De Lie and Lennert Van Eetvelt.

Image: Photo News.