Lotto Soudal have added a 27th rider to the 2016 roster of the WorldTour team, just before the start of the new year. 23-year-old Frederik Frison is the lucky man. He rode for the U23 team of Lotto Soudal in the past three seasons. Frison signed a contract for two years.

“I found it really important that we could sign a 27th rider," manager Marc Sergeant says. "Because of the rehabilitation of Kris Boeckmans and the Olympic dream of Jasper De Buyst, we had only 24 riders we could count on to ride a double or even triple race programme of a high quality, and that’s not enough. That’s why I plead to let Frederik join the team. He was a trainee at our team as of August this year. At the Tour of Denmark and Tour of Britain he proved his skills. The riders that he worked for often said he could be a useful asset and so he will be now.

“Frederik is a rider for different terrains and can help several riders and I am 100 per cent sure that he’ll do everything he can to serve the team the next two years. He’s a rider from our U23 team. Of the eighteen Belgians we now have in the team, nine come from our own team. For all parties, like the National Lottery and the team itself, this has to be an incentive to continue on the same path and to keep offering opportunities to young riders to set the step to our WorldTour team or a Pro Continental team to maybe reach the WorldTour level later.”

“This is a really nice New year’s present," Frison says. "I am really satisfied that I can become pro after a season as elite without contract. It’s very difficult to get in a WorldTour team, so it’s even more fantastic when you can make your début as professional in such a team. This makes me very happy. All winter I took care of myself really well, so I’m not panicking.

"I am really pleased to set this next step within the Lotto Soudal team. The youth programme has evolved the past years and is more close to the WorldTour team now. I’ve always had the chance to ride a nice programme and they prepared me for this step. I learned a lot the past three years, from Kurt Van de Wouwer for example.

“During the past season I could take part in a few races as trainee of the WorldTour team. I didn’t know what to expect, but it went really well. I could compete in some nice races, which definitely weren’t easy, like the Tour of Britain for example. I could do my job for the team. I had a great time and learned a lot. During the Tour of Britain I rode for André Greipel and that was special for me as trainee; it’s fantastic to see how he really appreciates the work you do.

“As rider you can compare me to Stig Broeckx. You can count on us to work for the leaders of the team. I am a rider for the spring races. This year I became Belgian time trial champion in the elite without contract category. This is a discipline I want to keep focusing on in the future. Time will tell if I can score in time trials with the pros as well, but that is something I see in the long term.”