Gianni Meersman signs new contract with Lotto-Belisol instead of RadioShack-Nissan
Gianni Meersman signed a two-year contract with the new Lotto-Belisol. He has been riding for UCI Professional Continental team, FDJ, since the last four years, the team announced its termination by the end of this season.
Initially, the 25-year-old decided to join RadioShack in 2012 but after the merger of the American team with Leopard Trek team, the picture looked totally different.
Therefore, he chose to become a part of Lotto-Belisol’s setup, according to Het Nieuwsblad.
Several riders of RadioShack are moving across to the Leopard-Trek squad while the team is still doubtful about getting the UCI licence.
There is a possibility that the team will get the ProTeam licence if it manages to satisfy all the conditions stated by UCI before the last deadline.
Meersman will join Marc Sergeant's new Belgian team and will ride alongside his teammate from FDJ, Jelle Vanendert, and other brilliant riders like Jurgen Van den Broeck and Andre Greipel.
Recently, the three more cyclists also joined Lotto-Belisol, Leif Hoste (Katusha), Lars Bak (HTC Highroad) and Greg Henderson (Sky Procycling). Lotto-Belisol team is also looking ahead to get UCI Pro licence in the next season.
Meersman started his career in 2005, where he took the third stage and the overall standing of Ronde van Namen. In the 2006 season, he won the fourth stage and the third overall place in Tour de l’Oise.
He joined Discovery Channel Team in 2007 and won the fifth stage of Tour of Austria and the third stage of Tour de Georgia.
He joined Francaise des Jeux Team for the 2008 season, where he secured the fourth stage of Tour de Wallonie and the overall runner-up’s spot in Etoile de Besseges.
He enjoyed a successful season in 2011 and showed a remarkable performance in the Circuit des Ardennes, along with winning the second stage and the points standing.
He wonderfully took the overall standing with a timing of 11 hours, 14 minutes and 29 seconds ahead of Laurent Pichon (Bretagne – Schuller) and Andrey Solomennikov (Itera – Katusha).
He also bagged the second position in Paris-Troyes and Route Adelie. If Gianni continues his effort, there is a possibility that he can win the Tour of Austria, among other possible wins.
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