Five signings may not be enough to replace Arnaud De Lie and Lennert Van Eetvelt at Lotto-Intermarche
Cycling
Lotto-Intermarche will go into 2027 without Arnaud De Lie and Lennert Van Eetvelt, two of their best chances of winning at WorldTour level. De Lie is joining Tudor Pro Cycling, while Van Eetvelt is heading to NSN Cycling Team. Their departures leave Lotto looking for new leaders in the Classics and stage races just as Jarno Widar has shown what he can do in both.
Sebastian Molano, Guillaume Martin, Mauri Vansevenant, Stan Dewulf and Clement Venturini bring experience across those races. Between them they cover much of the same ground, though replacing what De Lie and Van Eetvelt could deliver on their best days is a bigger ask.
Molano brings sprint speed as De Lie heads to Tudor
De Lie’s move to Tudor takes away a rider Lotto could back in a bunch sprint or after a hard day of racing. His 2025 wins at the Bretagne Classic and Renewi Tour showed how much of the calendar he could cover.
Molano arrives from UAE Team Emirates – XRG with the speed and experience to give Lotto a proven option in bunch finishes and help them reorganise their lead-out. Venturini, who joins from Unibet Rose Rockets, is an option for punchier finishes, while Dewulf brings strength and endurance for the Flemish Classics.
That gives Lotto several ways to approach the spring. The harder races that still come down to a sprint are where De Lie’s combination of speed and durability will be most difficult to replace.
Arnaud de Lie will wave goodbye to Lotto at the end of 2026
Guillaume Martin takes on stage-race responsibilities
Van Eetvelt’s move to NSN leaves a different gap. The Belgian won the UAE Tour and Tour of Guangxi in 2024, giving Lotto a rider who could race for the overall win when the general classification came down to a summit finish.
Martin joins from Groupama-FDJ United on a one-year deal. The Frenchman spent four seasons with Wanty-Groupe Gobert, one of the teams that eventually became part of the current set-up. He finished eighth at the 2021 Tour de France and tenth in 2023, took ninth at the 2021 Vuelta a Espana and won the Vuelta’s mountains classification in 2020.
Lotto gain a rider who knows how to manage a Grand Tour GC campaign. At 33, Martin is an experienced option for 2027, while Van Eetvelt is eight years younger and has signed with NSN through 2029.
Lotto-Intermarche’s main moves for 2027
| Selected arrivals | From | Selected departures | To |
| Sebastian Molano | UAE Team Emirates – XRG | Arnaud De Lie | Tudor Pro Cycling |
| Guillaume Martin | Groupama-FDJ United | Lennert Van Eetvelt | NSN Cycling Team |
| Mauri Vansevenant | Soudal - Quick-Step | Georg Zimmermann | Lidl-Trek |
| Stan Dewulf | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | Cedric Beullens | NSN Cycling Team |
| Clement Venturini | Unibet Rose Rockets | Liam Slock | Bahrain Victorious |
| Development promotions | Lotto - Groupe Wanty | Jonas Rutsch | Modern Adventure Factor Racing |
Vansevenant gives Lotto another option on hilly courses where the decisive move comes well before the finish. With Dewulf and Venturini suited to different kinds of one-day races, Lotto can spread those responsibilities across several riders.
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Jarno Widar’s October wins give Lotto another option
Widar stepped up from Lotto’s development programme to the WorldTour squad in 2026 and extended his contract through the end of 2028 in July. In October he beat Tom Pidcock and Matteo Jorgenson in a three-man sprint at Tre Valli Varesine, then won the final stage of the Tour of Guangxi at Nongla to take the overall title.
Those wins give Lotto an option they already had in-house for hilly one-day races and short stage races. How much responsibility Widar can take on in 2027 will shape the rebuild, while Molano and the Classics recruits face a different test on the roads that suited De Lie.
Jorge BorregueroWriter
Jorge Borreguero is a journalist with a degree from the Complutense University of Madrid and has been a writer for Cyclinguptodate and Ciclismoaldia since early 2023. In this role, he has played a key part in the evolution of the website, particularly as a specialist covering Movistar Team. He regularly writes race reports, analytical pieces, and in-depth features about the team, and has conducted exclusive interviews and attended multiple team presentations, providing readers with firsthand insights into one of the leading professional cycling squads.
Throughout his career, Jorge has maintained a strong focus on sports journalism, gaining experience across a variety of disciplines, including basketball and football. However, his current work is almost entirely dedicated to cycling, contributing extensively to Ciclismoaldia and its sister website Cyclinguptodate. For these platforms, he combines thorough research with detailed reporting to deliver high-quality content, ranging from race previews and results to expert analysis of teams and riders.
Jorge’s reporting is marked by accuracy, depth, and a commitment to providing readers with reliable and authoritative information. His direct engagement with teams, athletes, and events ensures that his coverage reflects firsthand knowledge and professional insight. Through his work, he has established himself as a trusted voice in professional cycling journalism, bridging the gap between the sport and its global audience while maintaining rigorous editorial standards.
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- they have no expertise with classics, they have no leaders in classics. the classics is dominated by the few Fuori Classe riders where other riders are left with scraps. the Hiring , the salaries dont make sense at all. Same problem as Man Utd. over paid players, egos, very little performanceabstractengineer13-11-2026
- Contract year means you gotta win, at least collect UCI points, helping be damnedabstractengineer13-11-2026
- Arensman is their best rider and he is paid very less in comparisonabstractengineer13-11-2026
- I'm not trying to argue with you but if you didn't see Del Toro struggling in the Tour I'll pay for some glasses for you lol. He struggled so much that Tadej missed winning stage 15, Tadej also dropped the pace along some stages to help Del Toro hold onto the podium. Now he may have been sick, that is a possibility, but he definitely struggled. You have a nice weekend as well brother.awp13-11-2026
- Im not copmaring him to jonas palmares...but current level of power and again like you even pointed out 19sec difference and on other ocassions del toro dropping him. Its evidently their close and based on both their different trajectory its self explanatory...where we are next year.And Del Toro didnt struggle if getting a podium in his first TDF at 22 year old is struggling you sure dont know how to be objective haha. But have a good weekend this is so dumb to discuss as its not even a discussin in reality as facts speak for themselves of what were actually speaking of - and self explanatory.miguel13-11-2026
- fingers crossed. my son has a poster of wout and mathieu battling each other at the beach at ostend up in his room. would be great to see them again there!Ketterechts13-11-2026
- This Giro is very strange in it's circular route. If you were to have stage starting in Trieste and ending atop Monte Zoncolan (end stage 20) you'd get a stage only 145 km long
Rafionain-Glas13-11-2026 - When Thomas gets the bullet from INEOS he can get a job as a comedian.
Senna196013-11-2026 - Right on. The more the merrier.Occam13-11-2026
- Remember, Del Toro struggled in this Tour. He is great, no doubt about that, but comparing him to a four time gt winner is absurd at this point. He has the potential. We'll have to see how he develops.awp13-11-2026
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