Lotto Soudal are set for a change of senior management at the end of the season, with John Lelangue leaving after four turbulent years in charge and with the team struggling to avoid WorldTour relegation.
Lelangue was appointed general manager at the end of 2018 at a time when the long-running Belgian team went through a period of significant management overhaul that created tension in the team.
That has been followed by a fallow few years in terms of results, with the team almost certain to be relegated from the WorldTour at the end of the season.
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The team confirmed the news with a statement issued on Thursday afternoon.
"It was John Lelangue's own decision to leave the team and we do so on the best of terms," said Jannie Haek, CEO of the team's lead sponsor, Lotto.
Axel Merckx has been linked to the role but owns the Hagens Berman Axeon development team. He has been based in Canada but has reportedly moved back to Belgium.
Lelangue's departure from Lotto Soudal was first reported in the Belgian press on Thursday. He was surprised that the news had emerged but claimed he had decided to leave the team.
"My decision was actually already made during the Tour," Lelangue said, claiming the team had developed well under his management. "In August I announced my decision to the board of directors. That is certainly not linked to an extended company in the World Tour or not. I decided that after four years I had accomplished my mission and that I was ready for a new challenge.
"We're leaving as even better friends than when I started with the team and I'm making it a point to continue my work with the team until the last day so that everything is ready to start next season as it should.
"From January 1 I will start a new challenge within the World Tour. I can't say exactly what that means at the moment."
Lelangue took over from Paul De Geyter, who had spent less than a year at the helm of the Belgian team. Previous boss Marc Sergeant was pushed into a less influential role before leaving altogether at the end of 2021, alongside fellow stalwart Herman Frison. At that point, Yana Seel was brought in from Astana to take the role of Chief Business Officer.
Relegation troubles
Despite a strong first season in 2019, performances plummeted in 2020 and 2021, coinciding with the start of the UCI's three-year ranking system that would decide WorldTour licences for 2023-2025.
Results have picked up this year, largely thanks to 21-year-old neo-pro Arnaud De Lie, but the team still find themselves deep in the relegation zone with less than three weeks to go until the end of the season.
With 18 WorldTour licences up for grabs, Lotto Soudal sit 19th of the 20 applicants, still needing to overturn a 1000-point deficit, which would now appear far-fetched.
Given their relatively strong ranking in 2022 alone, the team would qualify for automatic wildcards for all WorldTour races in 2023, as the best of the second-division ProTeams.
However, this safety net would only apply for next year, and they would have to again finish as one of the top two ProTeams in 2023 and 2024 to ensure a place at the Tour de France, while trying to get back into the WorldTour for 2026.
The circumstances surrounding Lelangue's departure are unclear. Het Laatste Nieuws suggests his contract has not been renewed, while the CEO of the national lottery, Lotto, has been quoted by Sporza as saying it was Lelangue's own decision.
As performances slumped, Lelangue's transfer policy was also called into question. Significant salaries were paid to the ageing Philippe Gilbert and John Degenkolb without much return in terms of results, while he brought in young riders who - with the exception of De Lie - were perhaps not ready to contribute the points needed to keep the team in the top tier.
Bad luck has also played its part, with lead sprinter Caleb Ewan crashing out of the Tour de France last year and enduring a long line of misfortune.
At the end of this season, co-title sponsor Soudal will switch sponsorship to rival Belgian team QuickStep, with a replacement found in cloud telecoms company Dstny through 2024. The team will still enjoy their long-running backing from Lotto but most likely as a second-division ProTeam and with new manager.
