Management

LOTTO BELISOL TEAM (LTB) - BEL

When a rider as talented as Philippe Gilbert decides to leave a team, they inevitably leave a very large gap. But even with Gilbert no longer in their books, Belgian team Lotto-Belisol - formerly known as Omega Pharma-Lotto - look sure to shine on all fronts nonetheless.

“With André Greipel, Lotto-Belisol can count on a great champion who can win major sprints, and Jurgen Van Den Broeck will try to get some great results in the Tour,” the team management said in January.
“We are also expecting Jelle Vanendert and Gianni Meersman to provide us with some surprising successes from time to time.”

Those predictions for 2012 are already coming true. By the end of February, Greipel had already taken three stage wins in the Tour Down Under for his squad and a further two in the Tour of Oman. And more is sure to come: already a stage winner in his debut in the Tour de France last year, this time round the German fast man will also be gunning for success in the Spring Classics like Milan-San Remo.

If Greipel has yet to find his upper limit, Jurgen Van Den Broeck already has a few scores to settle with the Tour de France after last year. Last July he crashed out on stage nine, breaking his shoulder blade, before he had a chance to impress. Fifth in the 2010 race, the best result for a Belgian overall since Claude Criquelion in 1985, Van Den Broeck’s strong Criterium du Dauphiné in June, where he won an uphill stage, suggested he was well en route to do even better in France. But then fate intervened.

As for Vanendert and Meersman, Vanendert’s Pyrenean stage win in the Tour last year was one of the most unexpected highpoints of the team’s season, whilst Meersman is capable of snatching some impressive wins in bunch sprints, too. If Lotto-Belisol want to prove there is life after Gilbert in 2012, they certainly have the raw talent with which to do it.