ProTeam Lotto Soudal reinforces its Performance Department
A few changes within the management of the Belgian World Tour team Lotto Soudal should lead to an even stronger development of the Performance Department. A department in which has been invested substantially during the past years and which has already paid off. From 2021 Maxime Monfort will be the Performance Manager of the team. He succeeds Kevin De Weert who has decided not to extend his current agreement.
“In 2019 Lotto Soudal has already proved to be a world leader in the field of material innovation and training. Our ambition keeps on growing,” Lotto Soudal General Manager John Lelangue says. “The best illustration is the world hour record of Victor Campenaerts. Victor’s talent, professionalism, and drive was essential but the support from our team’s Performance Department was as crucial. Meanwhile we have seen how important the role of a Performance Manager is in the entire team. Our team management is a blend of experience and youth, a combination that works. Our scientist is the ideal connection between them. The riders just have to think about cycling. The balance of last season says it all: 23 UCI victories including 4 Tour stages. The only team with real Belgian roots is thus doing very well. The implemented changes towards a more professional structure in the team yield results. That is why we will not change our course, on the contrary. Performance is and remains of great importance within our team. We would have liked to develop this further with Kevin, but we were unable to reach a constructive agreement for both parties. To underline the importance of our Performance Department we recruited Maxime Monfort, a strong successor who will continue to build on the solid foundation.”
Since the start of this season, Maxime Monfort (37) is team director at Lotto Soudal where he ended his 16-year professional career. During his career he was a loyal team player. He became Belgian time trial champion, won a few stage races, and finished fifth in the Vuelta. At the end of his career he got his trainer’s diploma.
“Maxime knows our house through and through already for the seventh season in a row, which is a huge bonus. He also brings experience from his previous teams such as HTC-Columbia and Leopard-Trek, teams where performance was of great importance. Maxime will work closely together with our medical staff led by Jens De Decker and with Energy Lab. Nutrition and mental coaching are increasingly important in top sport. Every detail counts. We have high international ambitions and our riders walk through fire for each other. The future is looking pretty good.” John Lelangue concludes.