ProTeam Three familiar faces stay with Lotto-Intermarché: Van Boven, Grignard and Menten sign until 2028
Lotto-Intermarché’s young talents will continue to be surrounded by plenty of experience over the next two seasons, as three familiar faces extend their stay with the team. Luca Van Boven (26), Sebastien Grignard (27) and Milan Menten (29) will all remain with Lotto-Intermarché. Van Boven, who came through the Lotto-Soudal U23 ranks and spent last season with Intermarché-Wanty, did not need much convincing to put pen to paper. “I feel appreciated here,” he says. “I also believe there is still room for me to grow within this team. I haven’t reached my limits yet and I want to explore them together with this team.”
Last season, Van Boven finished seventh in the Brabantse Pijl, among other results, featured in the early breakaway at the Tour of Flanders and is currently racing the Vuelta, where he is taking on a role he also sees for himself in the future. “On the one hand, I get my own opportunities, for example by joining an early breakaway, while on the other hand I can work for the team and our leader. That mix is perfect for me. Here at the Vuelta, for example, being able to race in support of a leader like Jarno Widar… that gives a Grand Tour a different dimension.”
For Sebastien Grignard, there was equally little doubt about staying. Grignard is currently in his ninth season in Lotto colours, and that will remain the case for the next two seasons. “Continuing here simply feels like a very natural choice for me,” Grignard says. “I still feel very good in this environment and I believe I can continue to grow and develop here over the coming years. I also enjoy the role of guiding young riders who are taking their first steps as professionals. The team puts a lot of trust in me in that respect as well, which I really appreciate.”
Over the past few years, Grignard has developed into an extremely reliable and hard-working teammate, while this season he has also regularly featured in early breakaways. That was the case in the opening stage of Paris-Nice and at the Brussels Cycling Classic, among others. “More recently, at the Tour of Denmark, the breakaway also made it all the way to the finish, which brought me close to victory. Those kinds of situations continue to motivate me and that’s something I want to keep pursuing.”
Like Van Boven and Grignard, Milan Menten also came through the Lotto ranks. Between 2015 and 2017, he raced for Lotto-Soudal U23 before returning to the team after five seasons elsewhere. “I’ve built a strong relationship of trust with all the staff around us and with the riders I’ve been racing alongside for all these years,” he says. “That was a decisive factor for me in choosing to stay for another two years. Personally, I still dream of winning a race like Le Samyn. I already won it once in 2023 and I would really like to do that again. I’m also looking forward to passing on my experience to the younger guys, like Steffen and Jarno.”
Jean-François Bourlart, CEO of Lotto-Intermarché, is delighted that the three familiar faces will remain with the team. “We often talk about our young talents, but to help them develop in the best possible way and give them the right support, we need riders like Luca, Sebastien and Milan. All three have already more than proven their value at this level. They are riders who know exactly what is expected of them and who are fully committed to working for the team. At the same time, all three still have ambitions of their own and we believe there is room for them to take further steps as well. That combination of experience, reliability and ambition makes them extremely valuable to our team. We’re therefore very happy that they have chosen to continue building with us.”
Picture: PhotoNews
