Roelandts will be an important part of Greg Van Avermaet’s Classics support team, with Daniel Oss set to move to Bora-Hansgrohe at the end of the season. After turning professional with them in 2008, Roelandts has spent the entirety of his career with the Lotto-Soudal team and its various guises.
The 32-year-old has been a regular contender in the Flemish Classics, but never got his breakthrough victory. His biggest victories came in 2008 with the Belgian national road race title and a stage of the Tour de Pologne. He has finished in the top 10 of most of the major Classics, and in 2013 he took his best finish at the Tour of Flanders, placing third behind Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan.
Roelandts thanked the Lotto-Soudal team but said that after a decade with the Belgian squad he was ready for something new. "First of all, I want to thank my former team for the nice 10 years I had with them, and for the chances I got. But I had the feeling I was looking for something new,” he said. “I was already interested in BMC Racing Team because I want to keep improving my time trial skills and the focus BMC Racing Team has on the spring Classics was really appealing.
"In the past, I've shown that I'm a rider who can adapt quickly and handle different types of parcours. It will be the first time in my career that I will ride for a different team, so I hope I can integrate well and contribute to the successes of the team. A big objective for me every year is the Spring Classics, so I want to help the team achieve their goals there and support Greg Van Avermaet, who has shown he can win these races. If I have the chance to go for a win myself, it would be a dream and career goal. I also like to do team time trials so I hope I can perform well in this discipline too."
Team manager Jim Ochowicz explained that: "Jürgen is coming to us to be one of our primary Classics riders to work alongside Greg Van Avermaet and help Greg and the team continue our success at these races. Wherever Greg is, you can expect to see Jurgen at his side, especially in the Belgian races where he knows the roads so well. We are very excited to have a rider with Jurgen's experience join us next year."
Roelandts is the second new arrival to be confirmed by BMC this week following the signing of Alberto Bettiol from Cannondale-Drapac for the 2018 campaign.
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