There is a silver lining for Lot Doustney. The Belgian team was relegated from the World Tour last season after falling out of the top 18 teams during the three-year ranking period, but with a new star on the rise, a new CEO, and four wins through February to move into the top 10 in the rankings, there is a positive The atmosphere around the 2023 team is positive.

The winds of change blew through the team over the winter, with 13 riders leaving and 11 newcomers joining, John Lelang leaving, former Saur-Sojasun and Rally general manager Stephane Oiro taking over as CEO, and Kurt Van de Wouwer was promoted from Directeur Sportif to sports manager.

Speaking with Het Nieuwsblad (opens in new tab) this week, Eulo said that "positive enthusiasm" and giving team members free work is the key to starting a turnaround in the lotto, and that the rise of young sprinter Arnaud de Lier has not hurt He said.

"I am not the only key to this success. The performance team is doing a good job and sport manager Kurt van de Wouwer knows the players well. We have developed a great working relationship and have successfully communicated that positive spirit to the staff and riders.

"I can't talk about the past. But positivity and enthusiasm are essential to motivate riders. I give people responsibility and trust and they have the freedom to do their job. If things aren't right, I will correct them, but so far that hasn't been necessary.

"Arnaud de Lee's positive input is moving all the riders forward. We want to work with him to tell a unique story and grow with him to unprecedented heights."

"He is a great guy, top talent and down to earth. Values and standards are very important to him. And he radiates that spirit, along with his enthusiasm and ambition, to the entire team."

The 20-year-old Walloon is being hailed as the new crown prince of Belgian cycling after a rookie campaign last season that included nine wins.

His successes in 2023 include an impressive hilltop victory over Mads Pedersen and Benoit Kosnefrois at Etoile de Besseges.

Already, Huyraud and the team are planning to build a team around De Lier and are also in talks with sponsors to lock him in for the next few years.

"Whether we want to 'break' his contract, of course we are thinking long term with him. 'It's a budget issue and it's up to us to resolve that issue as soon as possible. We are already talking to potential sponsors who might be interested. We are not worried

"We want to work with Arnaud. I have the same feelings that I had when Peter Sagan burst onto the cycling scene like a comet. So it is our duty to build a team around him, including respect for the other riders." [He's] still young. He is still young and we must not skip steps. But our project is clear.

Bringing De Lier carefully into the team is a game of lotto. Nicolas Maes told Cycling News on the opening weekend that De Lier does not intend to compete in the Grand Tours this year and may not do so again in 2024. He also has not yet considered competing in the full Classics.

"When we brought De Lier onto the team last year, we knew he had the ability, but if we had known his growth curve would be so steep, no, we would not have expected this," Maes said after the finish of the Clune Brussel Kuhlung.

"We designed a two or three year growth curve for him. We intend to stick to it. Of course, I think adding Omloop was the right choice, but it doesn't mean we're going to switch all of our programs for him and go for other goals. We know exactly where we want to go and when we want to go there."

It's not all about De Lee. Maes told Het Nieuwsblad, "If he doesn't attract additional sponsors, I don't know what will."

Teams are also looking at the UCI rankings; as EF manager Jonathan Vaughters said of his team, Lotto-Destney will race to win, not to focus on racking up ranking points as in 2022.

"You can't race primarily for points. You must race to win." It's nice to see young riders like Renate van Eotveld and Maxime van Gils taking chances.

"Of course, I will keep up with the rankings, but I won't put any extra pressure on that. The most important thing is that the riders race with confidence, and eventually the points will come naturally."

"I'm very happy to see that the riders have the confidence to do well, and I think that's the most important thing.

"There will be setbacks, and even then it is important to give the riders confidence, but I am confident that if we continue with this attitude we will have nothing to worry about. Ultimately, we belong on the World Tour."