28 riders for WorldTour squad, all change at women's team
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The Lotto Soudal riders head out to Utah Beach(Image credit: Lotto Soudal)
Lotte Kopecky (Lotto Soudal) is the best placed Belgian rider at the 97 km Stage 3 of the Lotto Belgium Tour 2016(Image credit: Sean Robinson/Velofocus)
Andre Greipel won his fourth stage of the 2015 Tour de France on the Champs Élysées(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Moreno Hofland (LottoNl-Jumbo)(Image credit: Bas Czerwinski)
Nikols Maes (Etixx-QuickStep)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lotto Soudal Ladies control the peloton(Image credit: Sean Robinson/Velofocus)
Ahead of its official team presentation on December 20, Lotto Soudal has finalised the rosters of its elite men's, elite women's, and men's U23 squads for the 2017 season.
The men's WorldTour team will be made up of 28 riders, with three riders on their way out and five new riders coming in.
Moreno Hofland joins from LottoNL-Jumbo to bolster André Greipel's leadout train after the departure of Greg Henderson, while Nikolas Maes is another WorldTour acquisition, coming across from rival Belgian team, QuickStep.
The three other new faces are all neo-pros, Briton James Shaw and Belgian Enzo Wouters graduating from the U23 ranks, and Belgian Remy Mertz joining from Color Code-Arden' Beef. Gert Dockx and Pim Ligthart are the riders joining Henderson in leaving the team, the former released and the latter heading to Roompot-Oranje Peloton.
It's all change at the Lotto Soudal Ladies team, with eight members of the 2016 roster leaving.
Sofie De Vuyst, Willeke Knol, Claudia Lichtenberg, Emma Pooley, Anouk Rijff, Anisha Vekemans and Susy Zorzi all move on, leaving the management with much work to do in the transfer window after Lieselot Decroix retired after the Lotto Belgium Tour.
The Belgian duo of Annelies Dom and Kaat Van der Meulen come in to join Lotte Kopecky, with whom they race on the track, while Dutchwoman Puck Moonen, Dane Trine Schmidt, and Austrian Anna Kiesenhofer complete the recruitment.
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At the U23 set-up, eight riders are leaving, five of whom will make their first steps in the professional ranks. Along with Shaw and Wouters, Kevin Deltombe and Edward Planckaert will ride for the Belgian Pro Continental Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise team, and Michael Goolaerts for Veranda's Willems.
To replace the eight outgoing riders, the team has brought in another eight youngsters, including Ruben Apers, who was fifth in the junior time trial at the World Championships last month, and Brent Van Moer, 13th in the road race in Doha.
Lotto Soudal for 2017: Sander Armée, Lars Bak, Tiesj Benoot, Kris Boeckmans, Sean De Bie, Jasper De Buyst, Bart De Clercq, Thomas De Gendt, Jens Debusschere, Frederik Frison, Tony Gallopin, André Greipel, Adam Hansen, Moreno Hofland (newcomer), Nikolas Maes (newcomer), Tomasz Marczynski, Rémy Mertz (newcomer), Maxime Monfort, Jürgen Roelandts, James Callum Shaw (newcomer), Marcel Sieberg, Rafael Valls, Tosh Van der Sande, Jelle Vanendert, Louis Vervaeke, Jelle Wallays, Tim Wellens en Enzo Wouters (newcomer).
Lotto Soudal Ladies for 2017: Isabelle Beckers, Jessie Daams, Elise Delzenne, Annelies Dom (newcomer), Chantal Hoffmann, An-Li Kachelhoffer, Anna Kiesenhofer (newcomer), Lotte Kopecky, Puck Moonen (newcomer), Julie Roelandts, Trine Schmidt (newcomer), Kaat Van der Meulen (newcomer) and Fenna Vanhoutte.
Lotto Soudal U23s for 2017: Ruben Apers (newcomer), Jonas Castrique, Alfdan De Decker (newcomer), Sander De Pestel (newcomer), Robbe Debuyck (newcomer), Stan Dewulf, Robbe Ghys, Mitch Groot (newcomer), Steff Hermans, Mikkel Frølich Honoré, Laurens Huys (newcomer), Kevin Inkelaar, Ward Jaspers, Bjorg Lambrecht, Senne Leysen, Milan Menten, Emiel Planckaert, Gerben Thijssen (newcomer), Mathias Van Gompel, Brent Van Moer (newcomer), Harm Vanhoucke, Thomas Vereecken and Aaron Verwilst.
