Lotto Soudal remain leaderless after Andrei Tchmil is told he has “insufficient experience”

Ex-pro Andrei Tchmil has revealed he's been turned down by Lotto Soudal for the vacant Sporting Director position because according to them he has “insufficient experience”.

For Lotto Soudal, 2023 is set to be a defining year. With a new team name (Lotto-Dstny) and having to deal with relegation from World Tour level, it is imperative they make the correct choice when picking their new Sporting Director. As such they have made the decision to turn down former Milan–Sanremo and Paris–Roubaix winner Andrei Tchmil, electing to wait for someone else.

As you could imagine, Tchmil did not agree with Lotto's assessment of his supposed inexperience. “I do not understand." The 59-year-old told Het Laatste Nieuws. "I would accept it if they said that I am not a real Belgian, that I do not speak Dutch, that I do not live in Belgium. Not that I have no experience.”

With Tchmil turned down and Axel Merckx, who runs the Hagens Berman Axeon development team, ruling himself out, who the person that will lead Lotto into this new era will be is still unknown.