Lennert Van Eetvelt won a very tough mountain stage on Friday and tried to commit “a coup” with his buddy William Junior Lecerf on the final day yesterday, but in the end Leo Hayter (Ethan’s brother) remained on his throne.
Van Eetvelt secured his 2nd place in the final standings. “A sense of pride prevails, but maybe also a little bit of disappointment because we let Hayter drive away so far,” said the runner-up. Hayter hit hard in the first days.
“This was one of the main goals of my season and I had of course signed up for a second place beforehand. With William Jr Lecerf in fourth in the final standings, it is very tough that we place two riders in the top five with Lotto-Soudal.”
“In this way we show that as a team we belong to the world top among the promises. Because without fantastic team work, my victory on Friday would not have been achieved.”
Van Eetvelt already won the Peace Race at the beginning of this month and will become a professional at Lotto-Soudal next year. “The goal is therefore to get everything out of this year’s promise category in order to make the step to the pros as small as possible. That approach is clearly bearing fruit and we’ll see what next year brings.”
“First it’s time for some rest, after which I will rebuild to a busy but beautiful summer with first the Belgian Team Time Trial Championship, the European Championship on the road, Giro Valle d’Aosta, Tour Alsace and Tour de l’Avenir”
At the Lotto-Soudal Development Team, the youngsters are kneaded by Kurt Van de Wouwer. The sports director is of course delighted with what his team has accomplished in Italy.
“With Lennert Van Eetvelt we aimed for a close finish, but a second and fourth place is very good and that makes me proud.”
“By the way, the boys continued to fight for the highest attainable until the bitter end. It is therefore great to see that we are among the strongest teams in the world at the promise level.”
“And the focus should not only be on Van Eetvelt or Lecerf, the team has delivered a brilliant performance across the board. Not only in the Giro, but during our entire Italian campaign.”
