Brand new Ridley cyclo-cross team of Nieuwenhuis wants to hit the road with new general manager Verbrugghe

Verbrugghe was presented on Friday as manager of the brand new team. There, he explained the established plan. "Together with Frans Symons (marketing director) and Jochim Aerts (CEO Ridley), I want to build a fabulous project," the ex-rider of Lotto-Domo and Cofidis told Sporza. "We are implementing a double focus: off-road and a road program."

"Especially for the latter, I have been recruited. We are looking for young talents. For this, I can rely on my numerous contacts and the experience I have gained as a rider and team leader." The Belgian focuses on road cycling, but initially the formation was created as a team for cyclo-cross. "Within the team, we have someone like Richard Groenendaal, who knows the off-road world like the back of his hand. Bob De Cnodder will also contribute to this project."

"The intention is to make a progression from offroad to road. We want to combine both, just like riders like Wout van Aert, Tom Pidcock, and Mathieu van der Poel accomplished. We will focus on recruiting young, international, and Belgian talents, emphasizing Belgian riders." It is not Verbrugghe's first task on the technical staff: he was the national coach of Belgian cycling between 2018 and 2020. He also served as team manager at Quick-Step, Bahrain-Merida, IAM Cycling, and Israel-Premier Tech. He left there in September.

Verbrugghe sees a strong ally in the bike brand Ridley, where the best materials and facilities allow him to develop the team. Ridley boss Aerts is delighted with the arrival of the experienced Belgian. "I am extremely proud that we can turn out with Verbrugghe and that he can outline our very ambitious project. Which we describe as a kind of 'university of cycling."

"Our project sounds very ambitious, and it is," he is honest. "We want to train riders from A to WorldTour. Of course, such a project will cost a lot of money. We see a lot of development teams today. Teams that work with a budget of 2 or 3 million. However, we aim higher. We want to become the best development team in the world as soon as possible."