Lotto Soudal have chosen younger sprinter Arnaud De Lie, Victor Campenaerts and Caleb Ewan as they give the impression of being to attain as many factors as doable within the one-day Circuit Franco-Belge race as they battle to keep away from relegation from the WorldTour.
The Belgian group have performed down solutions its places factors earlier than victories however have modified their racing programme to maximise the factors they will rating within the ultimate three months of the 2022 season.
Campenaerts and different Lotto Soudal riders have opted to not experience the European Championships to allow them to concentrate on scoring factors within the subsequent two weeks. Ewan won’t experience the Vuelta a España and after current surgical procedure to take away a plate from his collarbone, he’ll goal the Bemer Cyclassics Hamburg and different point-rich one-day races earlier than heading to Australia for the World Championships.
Lotto Soudal are considered one of 5 WorldTour groups confirmed for the top of season Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia. The race is the ultimate occasion of the 2022 season and can resolve who’s relegated from the 2023 WorldTour. Lotto-Soudal at the moment are lower than 700 from 18th place within the rating and will quickly overtake Movistar and Cofidis.
Campenaerts performed down the significance of the UCI rating factors on Sunday when he gained the Tour de Leuven however Lotto Soudal scored a complete of 196 factors within the race, boosting their morale and their battle in opposition to relegation.
20-year-old De Lie has already gained seven races in his debut season with Lotto Soudal and can hope he can survive on the rolling roads of southern Belgium. De Lie can be the chief of the Exterioo collection. Additionally driving are Brent Van Moer, Jasper De Buyst, Cedric Beullens and Sébastien Grignard.
Ewan was compelled to have surgical procedure to take away a plate on his collarbone instantly after the Tour de France. He missed the Commonwealth Video games highway race on the weekend however is again racing on Wednesday.
“I’m actually comfortable to have the ability to race once more after the Tour de France. My shoulder and arm had been bothering me for fairly some months and hopefully this difficulty has been resolved now,” he mentioned.
“I’ve to be real looking: as a result of surgical procedure and the obligatory week of relaxation I clearly misplaced a little bit of form. So instantly battling for victory will probably be troublesome however it’s a good race to get the legs going once more and put together for the subsequent a part of the season.
“The primary objective is the Bemer Cyclassics Hamburg on 21 August, adopted by the five-day Deutschland Tour. After that, I’ll probably race a few one-day occasions to hopefully concentrate on the World Championships in Australia afterwards.”
