Thomas de Gendt is a cyclist who has victories in all three Grand Tours and in several of the most prestigious one-week stage races on the world stage. In his 19 years as a professional between 2006 and 2024, he has 17 victories in his career: 2 at the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Paris-Nice, 5 at the Volta a Catalunya, 1 from Vuelta a España, Critérium du Dauphiné, Tour de Suisse and Tour de Romandie.
In addition, he participated 25 times in the three-week races (9x Giro, 6x Tour and 10x Vuelta) and was present at 17 monuments, being Il Lombardia with 7 and Liège-Bastogne-Liège with 6 the ones he raced the most.
After fulfilling several dreams on the road, the 38-year-old Belgian is now moving to gravel, where he will have new challenges and goals to achieve.
"Thomas de Gendt brings a wealth of experience," said Mathias Plouvier, CEO of Classified, in a press release. "His perseverance and passion for challenging races are a perfect fit for gravel racing. In addition, his pioneering spirit is an excellent addition to our team and a great ambassador for our innovative technology."
For de Gendt, the move is a new challenge and a continuation of his cycling career. "Moving to gravel racing is a challenge I'm really looking forward to," said de Gendt. "What appeals to me most about gravel is the combination of endurance and technique. I'm eager to see what we can achieve together and experience a successful season with the team. The hunger is still there," said the combative rider.
Team manager Nick Sannen is also excited about de Gendt's arrival. "Thomas brings a wealth of WorldTour experience that will be invaluable to our team. He will share his knowledge with his teammates as we support him to excel in gravel racing."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I'm deeply sick of this guy and his unwillingness to race seriously for more than a month or two. I'll never respect riders who do that. Seixas will be stronger than him next season, and maybe Del Toro as well. I don't even think he'll finish on the podium at any GT where Pogi, Seixas, and Del Toro are racing.megasmacky15-11-2026
- Not a chance in hell.megasmacky15-11-2026
- If you go watch some races from last season other riders that have never caught Jonas...are now catching him. Some are just riding away from him and he can't hold the wheelmd197514-11-2026
- He just doesn't have the desire anymore. I read an article earlier today that said he almost retired last year. His reasoning was he is away from home to much. Visma was able to keep him riding by allowing him to skip certain camps. So, while currently Visma is doing altitude work...Jonas is at home. Which means 2 things. 1- He maybe fresher than other riders. But, not the condition. 2-Is a somewhat slap in the face to others on the team that are supposed to help him win. Yet feel like he hasn't done what they have so perhaps they don't provide as good of protection or they ride more for theme (which the team may not notice).md197514-11-2026
- Roglic could not have won anyway, after Jonas followed him when Roglic decided it was his turn for a stage win. Jonas had already attacked Kuss twice, so it was Jonas who was within seconds of taking the lead before Kuss was 'gifted' the win. It felt a bit like Roglic was being thrown under the bus when the team made his unhappiness public.Hills3314-11-2026
- POG1, another nice doc about our favourite, I watched most of it with a big smile on my face (except for the bits about his crashes 😢 obvs!).Lozza14-11-2026
- Martinez had a good year! 5th at the Tour was a great result for him, albeit largely through getting in successful breaks, but he held it better than Pidcock who’d done the same.Lozza14-11-2026
- guess what Valgren, you're 34, and no you're not good enough. sorry to say.mij14-11-2026
- I'm a sepp fan and like to think he earned that LOL, indulge me : ) I think Jonas was fine. Roglic did not want to concede to Sepp. and I don't think you ever attack your own teammate in the leaders jersey if he is holding his own, which Sepp just about was.mij14-11-2026
- enough time? he's 24 years old. He's won 10 races over the last 2 years and some are significant. I won't argue about his attitude being good - it needs to improve. But with some coaching and mentorship he has a lot of winning ahead of him and has plenty of time to win a GT. I don't think he will ever beat Tadej, but everyone else is fair game Look at Mas and Valverde - they were 31 and 29, respectively, when they won the Vuelta.mij14-11-2026
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