{"id":339834,"date":"2025-12-10T17:12:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/339834\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T17:12:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:12:09","slug":"lotto-intermarche-finally-get-worldtour-approval-after-tumultuous-merger-as-full-squad-is-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/339834\/","title":{"rendered":"Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9 finally get WorldTour-approval after tumultuous merger as full squad is revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the summer, the merger between Lotto and Intermarch\u00e9\u2013Wanty has been one of the most talked-about developments in professional cycling. After months of tension, uncertainty and administrative hurdles, the moment has finally arrived: Lotto\u2013Intermarch\u00e9 has officially been granted WorldTour status. A major step forward for the Belgian organisation, which can now finally look ahead.<\/p>\n

The licence application was submitted just in time in October. The months that followed were filled with uncertainty – not only for the organisation but also for the riders and staff. Many athletes and employees were forced to look for new opportunities. While riders such as Biniam Girmay<\/a> and Gerben Thijssen quickly found new teams, Tom Paquot (26) and Jonas Gregaard (29) ultimately left the sport entirely.<\/p>\n

But from December onwards, it has been all about celebrating the team\u2019s WorldTour confirmation. The UCI has now officially given the green light. \u201cToday, thanks to the uniting of two historic Belgian teams, a new chapter begins in international cycling,\u201d said CEO Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Bourlart. The Women\u2019s team, Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 Ladies, will continue at the ProTeam level.<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"intermarcheLotto-Intermarch\u00e9 reveals full rosterWith the announcement, Lotto\u2013Intermarch\u00e9 has finally been able to publish its full roster. Among them the expected names, with Arnaud De Lie<\/a> and Lennert Van Eetvelt<\/a> presented as the mean leaders of the squad. Other key names are the youngster Jarno Widar, Jenno Berckmoes and cyclocross rider Toon Aerts. So no, Louis Barr\u00e9<\/a>, who is expected to sign with Visma | Lease a Bike.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith leaders Arnaud De Lie and Lennert Van Eetvelt, supported by a strong core and guided by experienced road captains such as Jasper De Buyst and Taco van der Hoorn, we can set ambitious goals to win races at the highest level,\u201d said Sports Manager Kurt Van de Wouwer. \u201cAt the same time, we continue to focus on developing young talent. Newly crowned European champion Jarno Widar joins the professional squad, and with Huub Artz and Felix \u00d8rn-Kristoff we add two more former European champions from the youth categories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"tacoRider roster Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9 2026Toon AertsHuub ArtzJenno BerckmoesC\u00e9dric BeullensVito BraetLars CrapsJasper De BuystArnaud De LieSteffen De SchuyteneerMatthew FoxJosh GiddingsS\u00e9bastien GrignardMatys GriselSimone GualdiMathieu KockelmannMilan MentenRobin OrinsLorenzo RotaJonas RutschLiam Slock
Lionel TaminiauxReuben ThompsonLuca Van BovenTaco van der HoornLennert Van EetveltRoel van SintmaartensdijkBaptiste VeistrofferJarno WidarGeorg ZimmermannFelix \u00d8rn-Kristoff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since the summer, the merger between Lotto and Intermarch\u00e9\u2013Wanty has been one of the most talked-about developments in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[171764,64,63,784,165646,188844,188843,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-339834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-arnaud-de-lie","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-cycling","12":"tag-intermarche-wanty","13":"tag-lennert-van-eetvelt","14":"tag-lotto-cycling-team","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}