Florian Vermeersch leaves Lotto-Dstny after five seasons to take a step higher in terms of sport and extra sport. Team UAE has a multi-year contract ready for the 25-year-old East Flemish native and the agreement is almost complete. Tadej Pogacar will have a second Belgian teammate next year in addition to Tim Wellens.
A remarkable cycling transfer is almost complete. After five seasons of Lotto-Dstny, Florian Vermeersch will move to Team UAE, the richest and currently best team (easily number one in the UCI World Ranking) in the world. Once the deal is done, the transition is not yet one hundred percent – although the transfer market is running at full speed behind the scenes, according to UCI regulations, transfers for the 2025 season may only be officially signed from August 1. However, both parties have found each other. Vermeersch and Team UAE are close to reaching an agreement.
Tadej Pogacar’s team can be proud of this transfer, because half the peloton was chasing the 25-year-old East Flemish, who finished second in Paris-Roubaix in 2021. Last year at the European Championships in Drenthe, Vermeersch impressed Wout van Aert. The two have been in regular contact since then and due to the departure of Jan Tratnik to Bora-hansgrohe, a place has become vacant in the spring selection of Visma-Lease a Bike.
Bora-hansgrohe trumped
Bora-hansgrohe also jumped in on the dance. The German team seemed to attract Vermeersch for a long time with the promise of becoming the leader in the cobbled classics, but Vermeersch is most charmed by the offer from Team UAE, where he will be able to enjoy himself in a strong spring team with Tim Wellens, Nils Politt and coming man Antonio Morgado are level in the pecking order.
Moreover, thanks to his driving skills as an ex-cross rider and abilities as a speed rider, Vermeersch can also be deployed in the service of Pogacar, Ayuso and co in the lap work. Their current bodyguard, Vegard Stake Laengen, is now 35 years old. If Pogacar, as he has already indicated, wants to focus on Paris-Roubaix in the coming years in his drive to win all five monuments, he has an ideal guide in Vermeersch.
His current team Lotto-Dstny was also in the race for a contract extension for a long time. Vermeersch is also still having a good time with the Belgian pro-continental team, where he is seen as a reserve leader behind Arnaud De Lie in the classics. However, Vermeersch was out of contract after this season and also wanted to listen to the interest of other teams.
Focus on autumn
Because Lotto-Dstny had already managed to retain Maxim Van Gils and Lennert Van Eetvelt for a longer period of time and was also almost finalized with Milan Menten, they could no longer compete financially against the WorldTour teams. After the Flèche Wallonne, sporting manager Kurt Van De Wouwer was already optimistic about Vermeersch’s exit.
For Vermeersch, this transition between sport and extra sport is a step forward in his development. This year his progress was slowed down by a broken femur after a heavy fall in the Tour of Murcia, his first race of the season. “The bone has healed well. Normally there is nothing that stands in the way of a full recovery,” said Vermeersch, who has now resumed cycling training. If his rehabilitation continues to go according to plan, he is expected to do an altitude training camp with the Tour selection of Lotto-Dstny in May and make his comeback at the end of July or beginning of August. Vermeersch wants to drive another nice autumn and give Lotto-Dstny a nice farewell gift.
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Tags: Florian Vermeersch UAE Pogacar Sport
