{"id":190577,"date":"2025-10-10T13:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T13:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/190577\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T13:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T13:56:08","slug":"edward-planckaert-changes-mind-on-soudal-quickstep-transfer-stays-at-alpecin-deceuninck-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/190577\/","title":{"rendered":"Edward Planckaert changes mind on Soudal-QuickStep transfer, stays at Alpecin-Deceuninck for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Belgian racer Edward Planckaert<\/a> had been among eight new faces announced by Soudal-QuickStep for the upcoming 2026 season, but the 30-year-old is set to stay at Alpecin-Deceuninck<\/a> after all.<\/p>\n

According to a report from Het Laatste Nieuws<\/a>, Planckaert had a change of heart during the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. He told the Belgian newspaper that he spoke again with Soudal-QuickStep CEO Jurgen For\u00e9, with both parties reaching a mutual agreement to rescind the signing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Planckaert will, then, not be making the switch over the winter and will now stay on board at Alpecin-Deceuninck \u2013 where he’s raced since 2021 \u2013 for another season.<\/p>\n

“I was indeed planning to go to Soudal-QuickStep<\/a>,” Planckaert told Het Laatste Nieuws<\/a>. “As the season progressed and during the Vuelta, I felt where my place was and where I felt best.<\/p>\n

“I acted too impulsively and started talking to Jurgen. We reached a mutual agreement, and this is the outcome.”<\/p>\n

The contract rescission hasn’t yet been finalised, but talks are underway between Planckaert and Soudal-QuickStep to terminate the agreed-upon deal.<\/p>\n

Planckaert had been among several names on the way out at Alpecin-Deceuninck, which is losing Deceuninck as a title sponsor for 2026.<\/p>\n

He has played a key domestique role for Mathieu van der Poel<\/a> during the spring Classics, in particular during the Tour of Flanders, and has also worked in the lead-out train for sprinters Kaden Groves and Jasper Philipsen. This season, he helped Groves to a stage win at the Giro d’Italia, also aiding Philipsen to three stages at the Vuelta.<\/p>\n

Now, despite losing several other riders, including Quinten Hermans (Q36.5), Gianni Vermeersch (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and Timo Kielich (Visma-Lease A Bike), he looks to be staying on board.<\/p>\n

Soudal-QuickStep, meanwhile, will look elsewhere for a new name on the incoming list. Het Laatste Nieuws<\/a>, reports that Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty rider Laurenz Rex<\/a> is on the team’s radar.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old impressed during the spring Classics, finishing top 10 at the Classic Brugge-De Panne, Gent-Wevelgem, and Paris-Roubaix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rex is under contract with Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty for 2026, but the team is set to merge with Lotto next season, with the latter squad set to take over the team structure and WorldTour license.<\/p>\n

As a result, riders under contract with Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty will be free to negotiate with other teams once the UCI deadline for submitting the team’s merger application on October 15.<\/p>\n

Should Rex end up making the switch to Soudal-QuickStep, he’ll be joining Jasper Stuyven and Dylan van Baarle<\/a> aboard a revamped and strengthened Classics squad. Alberto Dainese, Filippo Zana, Steff Cras, Fabio van den Bossche, and Jonathan Vervenne are also joining the team for 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Belgian racer Edward Planckaert had been among eight new faces announced by Soudal-QuickStep for the upcoming 2026 season,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-190577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}