Belgian Lennert Van Eetvelt set for important year in 2025: "He will make his debut in the Tour de France"
Cycling
Belgian rising star Lennert Van Eetvelt is set to make his highly anticipated Tour de France debut in 2025. The 23-year-old Lotto Dstny rider has had a breakthrough year in 2024, claiming overall victories at the UAE Tour and the Tour of Guangxi, where he showed his talent despite struggling with injuries the rest of the year.
Van Eetvelt's inclusion in the 2025 Tour de France squad marks another significant milestone in his young career. Speaking to CyclismActu, Lotto Dstny team manager Stéphane Heulot expressed optimism about Van Eetvelt’s potential while emphasising the importance of a healthy and injury-free season.
"We hope that Lennert Van Eetvelt will be spared from all the injuries he has had in 2025. He will make his debut in the Tour de France. Whether he will go for the general classification, I don't know. He may be more interested in discovering the race and will choose suitable stages."
While it remains unclear whether Van Eetvelt will target the GC, the Belgian's ability to compete in a variety of terrains makes him a wildcard for stage wins in what will undoubtedly be a valuable learning experience at cycling's most famous race.
Van Eetvelt's Tour debut reflects the growing ambitions of Lotto Dstny, a team that continues to build a talented roster of riders capable of competing at the highest level. The inclusion of Arnaud De Lie in the 2024 Tour de France highlighted the team's confidence in developing young talent.
Heulot also reflected on De Lie's performance, describing him as a versatile sprinter, "Arnaud De Lie is not a pure sprinter. That is to say: the hillier, the better. Of course, I am talking about difficult finishes, not about mountains. And I think that some stages of the upcoming Tour de France are designed in such a way that the peloton will thin out. I think Arnaud is one of the sprinters who is able to overcome the obstacles."
18.12 ⏳ Are you ready? 🔥
— Lotto Dstny (@lotto_dstny) December 15, 2024
Pictures: Brecht Steenhouwer pic.twitter.com/VbYacdIMK7
Just in
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
Popular news
Latest comments
- The same thing was said when Tadej announced that he would ride the Giro: "he goes to Il Giro because he knows he can't win the Tour". Always negative speculations. Maybe Primoz, near to the final of his career, simply wants to try this experience.
maria2024202419-12-2024 - If Valentino Rossi could never win during his period of dominance, and massive personality, then Pogacar not winning isn't a massive surprise. Cycling isn't a Premier League global sport......only one event reaches the mainstream every year - and that's not good enough.wipperman9519-12-2024
- I don't think it's only a British thing; the biggest talents aren't usually drawn to CX. Where are all the top Italian, French, Spanish, Slovenian CX riders? Apart from Belgium, and Netherlands, it's not really a target for up and coming cyclists - as there's no career unless you move to Belgium. Other countries can't support a proper professional series, like an international sport should be able to do. Lets not forget, since 2016, British riders have won plenty of World championships; with Pidcock, Richards, Tulett & Backstedt all winning more than one..... And, there was a time when Belgium didn't rule the roost in CX; that was Switzerland, but since the advent of XC MTB, their top off-road talents race there instead of CX - and the 2nd raters not good enough for XC MTB, race CX.wipperman9519-12-2024
- "25-34 are only 13% of USA Cyclings membership" Wow. I own a bike shop, and that number comports both with what I see in the business as well as on the road and trails, but it's somehow hugely demoralizing to see it quantified. Thirteen percent?verve82519-12-2024
- What super dutch talent are we talking about?awp18-12-2024
- Yes, 25-34 are only 13% of USA Cyclings membership.awp18-12-2024
- I will take the old days when you could track your teams across 8 years. Can't imagine a new fan finding it easy.Sweep18-12-2024
- Pick better parents and/or better doping agents.
ChoppyWarburton18-12-2024 - The bike industry situation is the same as the future Dutch talent pool discussion , it’s a fakely perceived problem due to an exceptional period that’s come to an end.Mistermaumau18-12-2024
- It's all a part of the fun. Sometimes it takes a few races before you can tell who's who and what's going on.
santiagobenites18-12-2024