Maes becomes sports director at Lotto Soudal

Lotto Soudal’s Nikolas Maes at the 2020 Milan-San Remo
Lotto Soudal’s Nikolas Maes at the 2020 Milan-San Remo (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Nikolas Maes – who rode his last race as a professional at the Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne in October – will take on a new role as a sports director at Lotto Soudal in 2021. The 34-year-old has ridden for the Belgian WorldTour squad for the past four seasons, and will now use his expertise and knowledge to work with the younger members of the team.

During his 14-year career, Maes rode for Chocolade Jacques and QuickStep – often in the service of Tom Boonen at the latter – and then joined Lotto Soudal for the 2017 season. Although he mainly rode as a domestique, the Belgian also won a stage at the 2009 Vuelta a Burgos and took the overall classification at the two-day World Ports Classic in 2013.

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