So that's why Van Gils left: Lotto-Dstny skips Giro, downsizes team and needs a more miracle year

Lotto-Dstny is facing tough times. Despite an excellent 2024 season, the Belgian team has lost key riders one after another, including Thomas De Gendt (retired), Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike), Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates), and most recently, Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). The reasons behind these departures are now becoming clear.

Although Van Gils spoke respectfully about Lotto-Dstny in an interview with IDLProCycling.com, he was candid about why he couldn’t stay with the Belgian team during his peak years. "Things are easier here [at BORA]," he said. "I was surprised by what we achieved at Lotto-Dstny with such a small budget. At BORA, there are so many more resources—you have ten people for a job that one person at Lotto had to handle. That deserves respect in today’s cycling world. But at Lotto, you sometimes had to wait days for a physio appointment. Here, there’s someone waiting on the couch for you."

In an interview with Cyclism'Actu, team manager Stéphane Heulot admitted the team is struggling. "The budget gap is massive, and we can’t keep up. And over the last ten years, agents have become a part of the sport, making everything about money. Four or five teams are monopolizing the best riders, which takes the excitement out of the sport. Cycling should be a battle, but it’s tough when you always see the same jerseys at the front."

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Lotto-Dstny performing beyond its means

"We’ve managed to stay competitive and have been in the top ten for two years, despite having a budget that’s 15 to 20 million behind the big teams," says Heulot. "That’s why we have to carefully consider every detail. We’re certainly not poor, but we’re also not a bottomless pit. As a ProTeam, we’re fortunate to have the flexibility to tailor our program to our riders. In 2025, we’ll have only 25 riders instead of 28. That’s why we’re skipping the Giro d’Italia again, even though we’ve long had the ambition to compete in all three Grand Tours. Lennert Van Eetvelt will debut in the Tour de France, and Arnaud De Lie will find a course suited to his strengths there as well."

In the spring, Lotto-Dstny will face challenges without riders like Van Gils, Campenaerts, and Vermeersch. Heulot hopes the team can adapt. "Behind De Lie, I see Cédric Beullens, Jenno Berckmoes, and Brent Van Moer as riders who love the classics, so we’ll be there. But the truth is, we’re performing at 130 percent of our capacity right now. We’re on the right track to finding a second sponsor, but in this economy, it’s not easy. We’ll start the season with only the Lotto name, but with 2026 in sight, we aim to return to the WorldTour. To do that, securing a sponsor is crucial so we can expand our roster again."