Moreno Hofland (Lotto Soudal) grabs a snack(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Moreno Hofland of Netherlands and Lotto soudal(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Moreno Hofland on the start line(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Moreno Hofland and Lawrence Naesen talk tactics(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Moreno Hofland (Lotto Soudal)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
EF Education First-Drapac announced the signing of Moreno Hofland on Saturday on a two-year contract that will take him through to the end of 2020. The Dutch sprinter joins the team after spending two seasons with Lotto Soudal as one of André Greipel's lead-out men.
"I'm really looking forward to riding for an international team," said Hofland in a team press release. “I like to explore myself through learning, and there's no better way to learn than through differences. I'm the only Dutch guy on my current team, which is mainly Belgian, and that can be isolating sometimes.
"I think it's really cool to have Danes, Italians, Spaniards, Colombians, Australians, Dutchmen and, of course, Americans working together. This will be new for me, and I always like to try new things.”
The 26-year-old has spent the duration of his career racing for Dutch and Belgian teams, joining the WorldTour ranks in 2013 with Belkin Pro Cycling, where he stayed for three seasons. He transitioned with the programme as it gained new title sponsors to become LottoNL-Jumbo for 2015 and 2016. He then joined Lotto Soudal in 2017.
During his career, Hofland has won stages at the Ster ZLM Toer, Vuelta a Andalucia, Tour of Utah, Paris-Nice, and Tour of Hainan, where he also won the overall title. His last victory came at the UCI 1.1 Famenne Ardenne Classic last year.
Holfand has participated in the Giro d'Italia three times and once at the Vuelta a España. His best result in a Grand Tour was second in a stage at the Giro in 2015 and third in a stage of the Vuelta in 2014.
"I've raced the Giro d'Italia three times, and, in my first try, I came second on a stage," Hofland said. "I'm also proud of that. My biggest dream is to win a stage in a Grand Tour.
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"I want to improve every day," he said. "My ambitions for next season are to get back into sprinting again and to win races. My biggest goal for 2019 is to win a WorldTour race, and, of course, with the Classics team we have, I want to be there with Sep [Vanmarcke] and Sebastian [Langeveld]. I want to help them win a big one."
The team press release stated that Hofland will play a key role in the Classics and in the sprints during the season.
“Moreno is a guy that showed great promise and won a lot of bike races early in his career and then moved into the role of being a lead-out rider for Greipel,” said Slipstream Sports CEO Jonathan Vaughters.
"He lost a little bit of his killer instinct when he was taken out of that sprinter role. We're going to put him back in that role and help him achieve results for himself."
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