Belgian supertalent, who dreams of winning Paris-Roubaix, turns professional with Lotto Dstny

This year's Lotto Dstny Development team is filled to the brink with overwhelmingly talented Belgian younsters such as the U23 superstar Jarno Widar, while three of his older teammates are turning pro next year.

And being well-aware of the quality within their Development team, Lotto wastes no time to promote another extensively talented rider with the first year U23 rider Steffen De Schuyteneer set to turn professional with the Belgian team in 2025 on a three-year deal.

Who is Steffen De Schuyteneer? Unless you had been hiding under the rock the last few years, you might have noticed that the Belgian was one of the top juniors last year, winning the Gent - Wevelgem Juniors, finishing 8th at Paris-Roubaix juniors and 7th at World Championships.

However perhaps even more impressive was his entrance into the professional peloton with no less than five runner-up results in UCI races this year. It long seemed that De Schuyteneer was on a Peter Sagan win-less run, but everything finally clicked with a sprint stage victory at the U23 Giro.

And that also highlights the 19-year-old's main strengths - sprints especially after hard races and classics without too much climbing. The rider himself confirms this in a press release attached to the transfer announcement:

"I hope to continue developing myself as a classics rider. My roots are in the Flemish Ardennes, where I started cycling and watching races as a young boy. It’s a dream of mine to one day win the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix."

"Next season, I’ll definitely still ride some races with the U23 team, such as the Paris-Roubaix, but I’ll also start to experience the pro peloton. I'll be able to go on altitude training camps, which I’ve never done before, and receive even more guidance in terms of training... I still have a lot of steps to take, but I believe Lotto Dstny is the best place for me to do that."