Lotto Soudal in "the most luxurious position" CEO says

Lotto Soudal are set to relegate into Pro Team level in 2022, something which team CEO John Lelangue has dismissed throughout the season, but Lotto CEO Jannie Haek has talked about the advantages of the situation in which the team find themselves. 

"It's not that you tumble into the second division like in football," Haek told Sporza. “Yes, we prefer to stay in the WorldTour, but is it a disaster to be at the top of the ProTeams? No. That is actually the most luxurious position. You will receive an invitation to all competitions and you can decide whether or not to participate. In a way that is also an advantage.”

From the teams that will ride at Pro Team level in 2023, the two with the most UCI points scored in 2022 will have automatic access to all World Tour events. A very flattering situation, and due to their efforts in the (unsuccessful) maintenance fight, Lotto Soudal - mostly with Arnaud De Lie's points - have secured themselves those wildcards. This means the Belgian team, alongside TotalEnergies, gets to choose which World Tour races they participate in the coming season, with no mandatory presence in any.

Israel - Premier Tech is expected to have automatic wildcards to the monuments, however the Israeli team's management sees relegation in a different side of the spectrum, with owner Sylvan Adams claiming to sue the UCI if the - inevitable - relegation goes through.

On Lotto Soudal's camp there is also chaos from within the management, with team CEO John Lelangue abandoning the role at the end of the year and entering a public feud with former team manager Marc Sergeant, but there is more sense of ease. “We will have to re-analyze who our spearheads are and where we can use them. A team at our level can no longer compete everywhere. We are going to have to make clear choices," Haek continued. 

Tim Wellens, a long-standing team leader is leaving. However, most of it's main weapons stay, with some names specifically mentioned: “We can expect a lot from an Andreas Kron, we are also incredibly good with the Belgian talents and we still see a lot of ambition with the older guard – such as Thomas De Gendt or Victor Campenaerts. We're actually not that bad."

“We want to continue to find talents to help keep the race great in Belgium. The cycling enthusiast appreciates that, so we also want to maintain our image of a sympathetic team. It will be important to continue to invest in that ecosystem," he concluded.

With the presence of Arnaud De Lie, Caleb Ewan and a strong classics team, Lotto Soudal is certain to keep having a heavy influence over the non-mountainous races in the coming season.