"I am missing that real highlight" - Florian Vermeersch aims for a breakthrough victory in 2024

Florian Vermeersch has had the best season of his career in terms of UCI points, but also consistency. The classics leader of Lotto Dstny collected plenty of top results in difficult one-day races, but is still waiting for a victory on the biggest scene.

Vermeersch can call his season 'very good' when he looks back at the past year. "I achieved some nice results. My spring was successful and after the Tour I was second in the Renewi Tour, fifth in the Tour of Denmark and I rode on the podium in the SUPER 8 Classic. There were a few very nice results, I was very satisfied with that," he tells WielerFlits.

"For the time being I am indeed missing that real highlight, that is indeed missing. But I think I can be very satisfied with my level. I think I have ridden many high-level races, where there was a very strong field of participants. For example, I lost a sprint to Mathieu van der Poel, who is not one of the worst riders. So yes, I think I have to take a step back in terms of level, so that I can go into the final a little fresher. Then that might happen."

At Lotto Dstny, not all the pressure falls on the shoulders of Vermeersch, because Arnaud De Lie has also finally broken through at the highest level. Together they could form a strong duo, says Vermeersch. "If we are both at the same level next year in the classics, we can be a nice combination. Arnaud can wait for his sprint, I can choose to attack. That will create fireworks if everything goes well."