Lotto Soudal's new sports manager, Kurt Van de Wouwer, will mirror the smart approach of Alpecin Deceuninck, who was relegated after this season, as his team seeks a return to the World Tour over the next three years.

Because WorldTour licenses are valid for three years, Lotto Soudal will not be able to return to the top league before the 2026 campaign, but Van de Wouwer has acknowledged that the option of foregoing certain races in their favor as they try to accumulate the necessary UCI points He admits that it could work.

"There is no obligation to run every race in the World Tour. We can put together our own program and carefully consider which races we can drop," Van de Wouwer told Sporza (opens in new tab). 'This way we can put together a balanced program that doesn't overburden the athletes, but allows them to focus on certain goals.' That will be the focus."

The team, which rebranded as Lotto Doustney in January, will receive an automatic wildcard invitation to all World Tour events next season after finishing in the top two non-World Tour teams in the 2022 UCI rankings.

"On the other hand, there is also the pressure and stress of having to earn a wildcard in an important (non-WorldTour) race every year. Ultimately, the race to get back on the World Tour in 2026 starts now. If you work for this team, that should automatically be your ambition."

Van de Wouwer has known Lotto for a long time, having been with the team for nine years as a rider and finishing 11th overall in the 1999 Tour de France. Most recently, he has coached Lotto's under-23 and women's teams, and his work with the men's team will reconnect him with the riders he helped develop.

"I would say the development team was a success story," he said. In that sense, it is not illogical that National Lotteries came to me."

Van de Woover will not be the last major appointment in the lotto this winter. The team is looking to appoint a new CEO, following John Lerang, who left to become general director of the Tour de Pollogne. Former Lotto athlete Andrei Chumil put his name forward for the position in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws over the weekend.

"As far as the sport is concerned, I will make the final decision together with the sports director," Van der Vouwer said of his role. 'We have already discussed the race selections.'

The roster for the 2023 Lotto Destony will include veterans like Thomas De Gendt and Victor Campenaerts, as well as young talents like Arnaud De Lier and Florian Vermeersch. Caleb Yuan will also remain in his place, and Jacopo Guarnieri will join his lead-out train.

Since joining Lotto-Soudal in 2019, Yuan has won five stages in the Tour de France, four stages in the Giro d'Italia, and the Scheldeprij and Brussels Cycling Classic. He crashed on the first day of the Giro and struggled at the Tour, winning seven races, but only one stage win at the World Tour level, Tirreno-Adriatico.

"He was below expectations, but if he had won one or two stages in the Grand Tours, the image of Lotto would be completely different. It's also relative," Van de Vouwer said.

"Ewan's misfortune began in 2021 when he broke his collarbone in the Tour. He fell into a negative spiral there. This year he crashed again in the first group sprint of the Giro."