Info about Team Lotto Soudal
Main sponsors: Lotto, Soudal
Industry: Lottery, adhesives
Manager: John Lelangue
Sports Director: John Lelangue (cond.), Mario Aerts, Cherie Pridham, Maxime Monfort, Allan Davis, Nikolas Maes, Marc Wauters, Kurt Van de Wouwer
Current team bike: Ridley Noah Fast Disc
Current jersey
Lotto Soudal: A team for sprinters
The Belgian team has existed under various sponsor names since the mid-1980s. The team went into the current season with two construction sites, at least one of which has now been resolved: with the Belgian technology company "Dstny", a new co-sponsor was found for the coming season alongside longstanding partner Lotto. This is because current sponsor Soudal will be switching to Quick-Step's national rivals from 2023.
The other problem: At the end of the season, the UCI awards the new World Tour licences until 2026, which entitle the riders to compete in the Tour de France guarantee. These licences go to the 18 best teams of the past three years - and Lotto Soudal was only in 20th place in this ranking at the start of the year.
The team must therefore diligently collect points - especially in major races such as the Tour. However, the team is traditionally not interested in the overall standings. "Our team is aiming for stage wins at the Tour," says team manager John Lelangue. To achieve this, they are primarily building a strong team around sprinter Caleb Ewan, who is expected to take at least one, or at best several stage wins. The squad also includes escape experts such as Tim Wellens.
Lotto Soudal's Tour de France line-up with start numbers
161 Caleb Ewan
162 Frederik Frison
163 Philippe Gilbert
164 Reinardt Janse van Rensburg
165 Andreas Kron
166 Brent Van Moer
167 Florian Vermeersch
168 Tim Wellens
The captain
Caleb Ewan was too small for most ball sports as a child, so he took a diversion into athletics and started cycling. However, the son of a South Korean mother and an Australian father had to wait a long time for his debut in the Tour de France; with his previous team, the Australian Orica team (now Bike Exchange), his ambitions in the overall standings prevailed.
As a result, there was no place for Ewan in the Tour squad for several years. That changed with his move to Lotto-Soudal in 2019, which turned out to be a stroke of luck for both sides: Ewan won three stages at the Tour in his very first year, followed by two more stage wins in 2020.
The sprint train of the Australian, who is known as the "pocket rocket" because of his small stature and explosive acceleration, regularly includes the German pros Roger Kluge, Michael Schwarzmann and Rüdiger Selig. This year, however, they were not nominated by their team for the Tour de France.
A portrait of the Tour de France teams
- AG2R-CITROËN TEAM
- Alpecin-Deceuninck
- Arkea-Samsic
- Astana-Qazaqstan
- Bahrain-Victorious
- B&B Hotels-KTM
- BikeExchange-Jayco
- Bora-Hansgrohe
- Cofidis
- Team DSM
- EF Education EasyPost
- Groupama-FDJ
- Ineos Grenadiers
- Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert
- Israel-Premier Tech
- Jumbo-Visma
- Movistar
- Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl
- TotalEnergies
- Trek-Segafredo
- UAE Team Emirates
18 World Tour teams at the start of the Tour de France
18 of the 22 teams competing in the Tour de France 2022 have a World Tour licence, which means they are both entitled and obliged to take part in the Tour of France. Four teams belong to the Professional Continental Teams, the second division of international cycling.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck and Arkea-Samsic teams qualified as the two best teams in this category last year; the two French teams B&B Hotels-KTM and TotalEnergies received a wildcard from Tour organiser ASO. With eight participants per team, the 2022 Tour de France peloton will comprise a total of 176 riders.
