ProTeam Tomasz Marczyński and Tosh Van der Sande re-sign with Lotto Soudal
With the contract extensions of Belgian Tosh Van der Sande and Polish rider Tomasz MarczyÅ„ski, both until the end of 2021, Lotto Soudal’s squad is increasingly getting shape. These two riders are well-known riders of the WorldTour team as MarczyÅ„ski and Van der Sande will start their sixth and tenth seasons respectively with the Belgian squad. The two teammates will be at the start of the 75th Tour of Spain tomorrow. Lotto Soudal now already knows the names of 27 riders for 2021. For the moment, eighteen riders of the current team will see the arrival of nine new teammates.
It was as a junior world champion in the points race and winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23 that Tosh Van der Sande (29) arrived in the team in 2012. He then proved to be an essential support for its leaders in the most difficult races, but he also knew how to seize his chances, as in the Tour de Wallonie last season where he won a stage.
“Sprinting with a small group after a difficult stage is the scenario that suits me best. This will already be the case from tomorrow in my sixth Vuelta,” says Tosh Van der Sande. “The Tour of Spain has quite a few complicated stages and we intend to be very active there, as we are in the Giro at the moment. I already felt very good at the Flèche Brabançonne and now that the worries of contract extension are behind me, I will be able to have fun on the bike. Also, I'm really looking forward to being in 2021. The team has been significantly rejuvenated. I still feel young myself, but I hope I can represent something for my young teammates. I will take my responsibilities and they can count on me. "
Like Tomasz Marczyński, Tosh Van der Sande lives in Spain. Marczyński (36), quadruple champion of Poland (three times on the road, once in time trial), already won two stages in the Vuelta and he is determined to win another one.
“It’s been a tough season so far for everyone and for me. I’m happy to have come back from illness and to be able to show what I’m capable of in this last Grand Tour of the season. The confidence of the team in me means a lot to me. After five seasons with Lotto Soudal, people are starting to get to know me. They also know that I will be able to guide all these young riders who are arriving next year. With my experience, I will show them around the peloton. I am already happy because youth is the future and there are certainly great talents in this group", says Tomasz MarczyÅ„ski​​​​​​​.
Provisional list of Lotto Soudal riders for 2021:
Filippo Conca, Steff Cras, Jasper De Buyst, Thomas De Gendt, John Degenkolb, Caleb Ewan, Frederik Frison, Philippe Gilbert, Kobe Goossens, Sébastien Grignard, Matthew Holmes, Roger Kluge, Andreas Kron, Kamil Małecki, Tomasz Marczyński, Sylvain Moniquet, Stefano Oldani, Harry Sweeny, Gerben Thijssen, Maxim Van Gils, Brent Van Moer, Tosh Van der Sande, Harm Vanhoucke, Florian Vermeersch, Viktor Verschaeve, Xandres Vervloesem, Tim Wellens.