After the UCI officially awarded a three-year WorldTour licence to the now-official Lotto-Intermarché merged organisation, the team announced a 30-rider roster for the men’s WorldTour. The team also stepped up their women’s outfit from a Continental license to ProTeam status, with 14 riders on the roster for 2026.
The UCI’s announcement also confirmed that Cofidis would no longer be a part of the WorldTour after failing to make the top 18 in the three-year UCI Team Rankings, while Uno-X Mobility have been promoted to the WorldTour through 2028. The French team missed the top 18 by just 397 points over three seasons.
For Lotto-Intermarché, the merger was not an even split. Most of the riders came from the 2025 Lotto team, with 20 of their riders remaining, while only eight riders moved across from the Intermarché-Wanty organisation.
However, Intermarché-Wanty’s General Manager Jean-François Bourlart will lead the merged team as CEO and Aike Visbeek takes the reins as performance manager after serving as a director sportif with Intermarché-Wanty. Lotto’s DS Kurt Van de Wouwer will take the role of sports manager in the 2026 team.
The team’s equipment sponsors come mostly from Lotto, with Orbea, Vermarc, Ekoï, and Caps, while Intermarché-Wanty’s bike sponsor Cube will support TotalEnergies in 2026.
“Today, thanks to the unification of two historic Belgian teams, a new chapter begins in international cycling,” Bourlart said in the team’s announcement. “In recent months we have worked very hard behind the scenes to build a solid project, based on the foundations of Lotto Cycling Team and Intermarché-Wanty.
“We are pleased that the UCI places its confidence in us for the next three years to make this project succeed. The recognition of the UCI ProTeam status for the women’s team also makes us happy. Preparations for the new season are now in full swing, with the first collective training camp in Spain currently underway. I already feel a strong enthusiasm throughout the entire team.”
The team held onto sprinter Arnaud De Lie and climber Lennert Van Eetvelt, winner of the UAE Tour and Tour of Guangxi in 2024, as well as Classics specialists Jasper De Buyst and Taco van der Hoorn. However, they lost Biniam Girmay to the ex-Israel-Premier Tech team, NSN.
Van de Wouwer emphasised the team’s continuing commitment to developing young riders…
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