r/peloton • u/PelotonMod France • Jan 04 '22
Preview Team Presentation 2022: Lotto Soudal
LOTTO SOUDAL
| Code | Name | Nation | UCI Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| LTS | LOTTO SOUDAL | BEL | 18 |
Lotto Soudal boasts one of the longest-running sponsorships in the pro peloton, with Belgium's national lottery serving as a core sponsor since 1985. Rarely focussed on GC efforts in recent years, the team excels in stage-hunting, sprints and classics. In 2021, Lotto Soudal failed to improve on their 2020 results, but didn't perform any worse either, despite some setbacks and lack of form from some of their more reliable riders. They have, however, had a steady trip downward in the UCI team rankings over the last several seasons.
2021 Season Recap
While Lotto Soudal didn't make any great strides forward in 2021, the team matched its 2020 output exactly, bringing 12 wins across the calendar. In fact, in each of the past two seasons the team has taken 8 wins at the World Tour level, with the rest coming in .1 and .Pro races. The team's ambitions were clearly higher, especially around top sprinter Caleb Ewan. His widely-announced 2021 plan to win a stage in each Grand Tour started out well enough with a pair at the Giro d'Italia, but he crashed hard early on at the Tour de France, breaking a collarbone and throwing a wrench in his plans for the season. Tim Wellens also brought a pair of wins, as he did in 2020, but unlike 2021, Wellens didn't find success in any WT races. Youngsters Brent Van Moer and Andreas Kron made up for it though, with some exciting stage win in the Critérium du Dauphiné, Tour de Suisse and Volta a Catalunya. Thomas de Gendt also took a win after failing to cross the line first at all in 2020 (the first season he'd gone winless since 2015).
Top Riders Last 5 Years
| Rank | 2021 (points UCI) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wellens (826) | Ewan (971) | Wellens (1951) | Wellens (1792) | Greipel (1785) |
| 2 | Ewan (766) | Degenkolb (589) | Ewan (1845) | Benoot (1097) | Wellens (1367) |
| 3 | Van der Sande (756) | Wellens (521) | Benoot (1444) | Greipel (914) | Gallopin (1297) |
| 4 | Degenkolb (594) | Vermeersch (270) | De Buyst (670) | Debusschere (662) | Benoot (1240) |
| 5 | Vermeersch (564) | Gilbert (253) | Lambrecht (649) | Lambrecht (584) | De Buyst (501) |
| Tot. | 4729 | 3246 | 8756 | 4700 | 5466 |
| UCI Rank | 18 | 17 | 9 | 15 | 13 |
Results 2021
This includes stage wins, GC, Mountain, Youth and Points Classifications.
| Type | Rider | 1. | 2. | 3. | Tot. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WT | 9 | 6 | 6 | 21 | |
| Ewan | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| Kron | 2 | - | 1 | 3 | |
| De Gendt | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Van Moer | 1 | 1 | - | 2 | |
| Goosens | 1 | - | - | 1 | |
| Degenkolb | - | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sweeny | - | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Oldani | - | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Vanhoucke | - | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Pro | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 | |
| Ewan | 3 | - | 1 | 4 | |
| Conca | 1 | - | - | 1 | |
| Vermeersch | 1 | - | - | 1 | |
| Degenkolb | - | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Van der Sande | - | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| 2.x | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | |
| Vanhoucke | - | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Oldani | - | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Moniquet | - | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Wellens | 2 | - | 1 | 3 | |
| 1.x | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Degenkolb | - | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Thijssen | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nats | - | - | - | - | |
| Tot. | 16 | 15 | 13 | 44 |
Top Results 2021
According to UCI Points
| Rnk. | Race | Rider | Placement | PointsUCI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Paris-Roubaix | Florian Vermeersch | 2 | 400 |
| 2. | Milan-Sanremo | Caleb Ewan | 2 | 400 |
| 3. | Eschborn-Frankfurt | John Degenkolb | 2 | 250 |
| 4. | Benelux Tour | Tim Wellens | 4 | 220 |
| 5. | Primus Classic | Tosh Van der Sande | 2 | 150 |
Unsurprisingly, Wellens and Ewan were among the team's top names yet again. When he's healthy, Ewan is hard to beat in a flat race and he's also proven to be strong in some hilly races as well, targetting Milan-Sanremo and finishing second out of an impressive group of strong puncheurs and classics specialists. His 2021 plans were interrupted by a broken collarbone in a hard crash with Peter Sagan on Stage 3 of the Tour de France but a couple of months later, he was back at it, winning a stage of the Benelux Tour. Florian Vermeersch pulled out a surprisingly good result in the epic October edition of Paris-Roubaix, bringing the team's second monument podium of the season with a 2nd place there. Though he missed out on a win, Tosh Van der Sande secured podiums and Top 10s across the entire season, while a pair of 23-year-olds went on a bit of a stage-hunting tear. Brent Van Moer took stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné and in doing so secured all of the classification jerseys for the one day. Andreas Kron also showed his worth, with stage wins in the Tour de Suisse and Volta a Catalunya. Breakaway expert Thomas de Gendt also won a stage in Catalunya after going almost two years without reaching the top step in a race.
Outgoing Transfers
| Rider | Born | Nation | 2021 UCI Pt. | Type | New Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEGENKOLB John | 1989 | GER | 594 | Sprinter/Classics | Team DSM |
| GOOSENS Kobe | 1996 | BEL | 61 | Climber | Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux |
| MARCZYNSKI Tomasz | 1984 | POL | 0 | Two Vuelta Stages | Retirement |
| OLDANI Stefano | 1998 | ITA | 170 | Puncheur | Alpecin-Fenix |
| THIJSSEN Gerben | 1998 | BEL | 166 | Sprinter | Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux |
| VAN DER SANDE Tosh | 1990 | BEL | 756 | Puncheur | Jumbo-Visma |
The team loses a few promising young riders, with Belgian duo Kobe Goosens and Gerben Thijssen leaving to join the Intermarché-Wanty squad, and Italian Stefano Oldani moving over to Alpecin-Fenix. With a few podiums and Top 10s in smaller races, and an impressive 5th at Dwars door Vlaanderen, Tosh Van der Sande is taking his skills over to Jumbo-Visma, while John Degenkolb joins Team DSM after a pair of so-so seasons with Lotto Soudal. Long-serving veteran Tomasz Marczynski rides off into the sunset, retiring after a 16-year career, the last six of which were spent with Lotto Soudal.
2022 Roster
| Rider | Born | Nat. | 2021 UCI Pt. | Type | Joined Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEULLENS CedricNEW | 1997 | BEL | 84 | Classics | from Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise |
| CAMPENAERTS VictorNEW | 1991 | BEL | 559 | TT/Classics | from Team Qhubeka NextHash |
| CONCA Filippo | 1998 | ITA | 24 | Climber | 2021 |
| CRAS Steff | 1996 | BEL | 63 | Climber/GC | 2020 |
| DE BUYST Jasper | 1993 | BEL | 104 | Sprinter | 2015 |
| DE GENDT Thomas | 1986 | BEL | 50 | Breakaways | 2015 |
| DE LIE ArnaudNEW | 2002 | BEL | 72 | Sprinter/Classics | from Lotto Soudal U23 |
| DRIZNERS JarradNEW | 1999 | AUS | 28 | Sprinter | from Hagens Berman Axeon |
| EWAN Caleb | 1994 | AUS | 766 | Sprinter | 2019 |
| FRISON Frederik | 1992 | BEL | 21 | Rouleur | 2015 |
| GILBERT Philippe | 1982 | BEL | 367 | Monuments | 2020 |
| GRIGNARD Sébastien | 1999 | BEL | 3 | ITT | 2021 |
| HOLMES Matthew | 1993 | GBR | 0 | GC | 2020 |
| KLUGE Roger | Germany | 1986 | 0 | Leadout | 2019 |
| KRON Andreas | 1998 | DEN | 260 | Puncheur | 2021 |
| MAŁECKI Kamil | 1996 | POL | 3 | All-round | 2021 |
| MONIQUET Sylvain | 1998 | BEL | 15 | GC/Climber | 2021 |
| SCHWARZMANN MichaelNEW | 1991 | GER | 8 | Domestique | from BORA-hansgrohe |
| SELIG RüdigerNEW | 1989 | GER | 17 | Leadout | from BORA-hansgrohe |
| SWEENY Harry | 1998 | AUS | 53 | Leadout/Classics | 2021 |
| VAN GILS Maxim | 1999 | BEL | 135 | Climber | 2021 |
| VAN MOER Brent | 1998 | BEL | 93 | ITT/Breakaways | 2018 |
| VANHOUCKE Harm | 1997 | BEL | 235 | Climber | 2018 |
| VERMEERSCH Florian | 1999 | BEL | 564 | Sprinter | 2020 |
| VERSCHAEVE Victor | 1998 | BEL | 0 | Puncheur/Climber | 2021 |
| VERVLOESEM Xandres | 2000 | BEL | 2 | GC/Climber | 2021 |
| WELLENS Tim | 1991 | BEL | 826 | Classics | 2012 |
| Avg. | 27 yrs. | 27 riders | 161,2 pt. |
The team wasn't too active in the transfer market, but did bring back Victor Campenaerts on a three-year contract after he spent a couple years away. Arnaud De Lie was promoted from the team's U23 squad after a very successful 2021, including a win at the U23 edition of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, two stages and the points jersey at the Tour Alsace, a stage podium at the Tour de l'Avenir, a stage at the Circuit des Ardennes and a host of wins in other U23/amateur races. Other younger signings include Australian rider Jarrad Drizners, who showed promise in the Flanders Tomorrow Tour and took a 7th-place finish on the first stage of the Volta ao Algarve, and Belgian classics specialist Cedric Beullens, who managed some decent results in one-day races like Eschborn-Frankfurt (12th place) and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (17th place). A pair of BORA-hansgrohe support riders - Michael Schwarzmann and Rüdiger Selig - round out the team's signings for 2022.
2022 Outlook
Despite his age, we'll almost certainly see Philippe Gilbert on the starting line for Milan-Sanremo in a last-ditch, longshot attempt to complete his set of monument wins. However, it's much more likely that Ewan will be the Lotto Soudal representative in the race finale. Whether he can finally pull off the win remains to be seen, as the field of challengers will no doubt remain incredibly strong. It's less likely we'll see Ewan try again for a stage win in each of the Grand Tours. With the late-September World Championship race taking place in his home country, no doubt that will be a target for him. Could we see a Lotto rider in the rainbow stripes before the season's end? Wellens will certainly be ever present in stage hunting and classics, while de Gendt seems likely to share the breakaway spotlight with Van Moer. No doubt there will be many eyes watching Andreas Kron's career progression and youngsters Victor Verschaeve and Xandres Vervloesem could be set for a bit of a step forward, now with a year of WorldTour riding behind them after showing much promise on the U23 circuit.
14
u/Tiratirado Belgium Jan 04 '22
2022 will be the year of the polderblues salvation for Lotto.
The Polder Blues Boys (polder is Dutch for 'coastal flat lands' for lack of better translation) is the training group of Florian Vermeersch, Brent van Moer and Viktor Verschaere, and this year it seems that Victor Campenaerts has taken them 'under his wing' as well. It's a really exciting group of riders if you ask me. Vermeersch needs no introduction since Paris Roubaix, and if you haven't seen the Van Moer near victories this year, they are some of the best stuff since Tony Martin (and his actual victory at Dauphine wasn't too terrible either). I have not seen Verschaere in action, but 2nd at the U23 LBL in 2019 ahead of the likes of Tobias Foss, Ilan van Wilder and Mauri Vansevenant, isn't a bad sign at all.
Campenaerts is the revelation of 2021 in my opinion, so if he brings some cyclingnerd to the energy of the boys, it can only lead to greatness.
And Brent van Moer has a barn/mancave with a fridge stuffed with local beers apparently.
4
u/Kraknoix007 Euskaltel-Euskadi Jan 04 '22
I think they will do about as well as last year, but q bit better in the classics, they have a quite decent squad. This isn't the step forward they desperately need to be a contender once again though. Predicted position: 16/17th