Danny van Poppel set to leave Team Sky for LottoNL-Jumbo

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Danny van Poppel will leave Team Sky and ride for LottoNL-Jumbo in 2018, according to a report in De Telegraaf. Van Poppel had previously indicated his intention of remaining at Team Sky, but the newspaper says that he has now penned a two-year deal with the Dutch squad.

Van Poppel turned professional with Vacansoleil-DCM in 2013 and switched to Trek Factory Racing when the team folded at the end of that season. In 2015 he won a stage of the Vuelta a España and was snapped up by Team Sky for the following season.

In his first year with the team, he won stages of the Tour de Yorkshire, the Vuelta a Burgos and the Arctic Race of Norway. This year brought an early stage win in the prologue of the Herald Sun Tour. However, he endured a challenging spring campaign with a string of DNFs that stretched into May. He helped Team Sky win the overall at the Hammer Series but his next individual win didn't come until the Tour de Pologne, where he also enjoyed a short stint in the leader's jersey.

Van Poppel would be LottoNl-Jumbo's second signing after they secured neo-pro Pascal Eenkhoorn. He would ride alongside fellow sprinter Dylan Groenewegen, who enjoyed a breakthrough victory on the Champs Elysées at the Tour de France. 

Van Poppel would be the second Team Sky sprinter to depart at the end of the season, with Elia Viviani cutting short his contract with the team and moving to Quick-Step Floors. Earlier this week Team Sky announced that they had signed up and coming Norwegian sprinter Kristoffer Halvorsen in addition to GC signings Egan Bernal and Pavel Sivakov.