Intermarché-Wanty under review: After a year of unprecedented struggles, merger with Lotto comes at the perfect time

It just wasn't good enough for Intermarché-Wanty in the big classics. Interestingly enough, the team may have achieved its best results there: Jonas Rutsch finished sixth in Paris-Roubaix, and teammate Laurenz Rex finished tenth. Louis Barré had a breakthrough year, finishing sixth in the Amstel Gold Race and the GP Montréal. However, the Frenchman is one of the only bright spots on the team.

Biniam Girmay should have been the star of the spring, but failed to impress in the Monuments. He also failed to win any smaller races (2nd in the Classique Dunkerque, 2nd in Rund um Köln). Things didn't go well for the Eritrean in the fall either, and he ended the year without a single victory. And that in a year when his team really needed him.

Intermarché-Wanty did win the Volta NXT Classic with Dion Smith and the German championship with Georg Zimmermann. These were surprising victories, but not nearly enough to erase the disappointment of the other one-day races. Other riders, such as Gerben Thijssen, Arne Marit, Lorenzo Rota, and Taco van der Hoorn, failed to deliver when it really mattered.

Let's start with the positives. Georg Zimmermann won the overall classification of the Giro d'Abruzzo, and Dries De Pooter won a stage in the Tour of Kyushu. Kamiel Bonneu finished seventh in the Tour of Guangxi, and Huub Artz made his mark in several tours, such as the Baloise Belgium Tour, Tour of Norway, and the Tour de Romandie. It was an excellent year for the young Dutchman.

But it doesn't get much better than that. Last year, Biniam Girmay saved the team with three victories in the Tour de France and the green jersey, but this year, after a second and two sixth places, he didn't make it into the top 10. Barré rode an attacking Tour and a good Critérium du Dauphiné, and Arne Marit sprinted to places of honor in the Vuelta a España.

But in terms of rankings, it was pretty bad. Louis Meintjes, who recently ended his career, was the team's ‘star’ with a sixteenth place in the Tour of Spain and an eighteenth place in the Giro d'Italia. Georg Zimmermann fell in the Tour and was therefore unable to show off his champion's jersey, but we had also expected more from him. The quality that Lotto has to offer is therefore more than welcome.

We are not particularly positive about Intermarché-Wanty, that much is clear. The team has always been open about its limited budget, but is that enough to justify this miserable year? We don't think so. The team occupies 24th place in the annual UCI rankings, behind six (!) ProTour teams. The merger effectively keeps the team in the WorldTour. With a total of four victories, none of which were at WorldTour level (or even in Pro races), the (former) editors of IDLProCycling.com rates them only 2.3.

Now to the main point: the merger into Lotto-Intermarché. There is a lot of buzz about it, and many riders will have to leave. That feels unfair, and the uncertainty for many men is indeed painful. But the fact is that Intermarché-Wanty really needed a new boost if it wanted to stay afloat. With riders such as Lennert Van Eetvelt and Jarno Widar, the classification core will get a huge push.

But above all, the sprint and classics team can count on a substantial quality boost. Arnaud De Lie will be the man for the spring by far, especially with the impending departure of Biniam Girmay. The former Belgian champion can also count on help from men like Jenno Berckmoes and the very young Steffen De Schuyteneer. Luxembourg's Mathieu Kockelmann is also an interesting sprinter.

Beyond that, it is mostly uncertainty for the team. Who may stay, who may not? In all likelihood, riders such as Roel van Sintmaartensdijk, Gijs Van Hoecke, Kevin Colleoni and Francesco Busatto (fourth in the opening stage of the Giro) will lose out. A lot of riders are joining, and so a lot of riders have to leave. CPA director Adam Hansen had to give the leavers the bad news....

(Provisional) Incoming: Jenno Berckmoes, Lars Craps, Jasper De Buyst, Arnaud De Lie, Steffen De Schuyteneer, Milan Donie, Joshua Giddings, Sébastien Grignard, Matys Grisel, Mathieu Kockelmann, Milan Menten, Robin Orins, Liam Slock, Reuben Thompson, Lorenz Van De Wynckele, Lennert Van Eetvelt, Baptiste Veistroffer, Jarno Widar (all Lotto), Simone Gualdi, Felix Ørn-Kristoff (both Wanty-Nippo-ReUz)

(Provisional) Outgoing: Alexander Kamp (Uno-X Mobility), Simone Petilli (retired), Adrien Petit (retired), Louis Meintjes (retired), Gijs Van Hoecke, Kobe Goossens, Francesco Busatto, Kevin Colleoni, Roel van Sintmaartensdijk, Tom Paquot, Gerben Kuypers (all not yet known)

Boy oh boy, people will be looking forward to seeing the new guys at Lotto. As mentioned, Arnaud De Lie will have to lead the team in the classics and sprints, as Girmay did before him. He will be joined by riders such as Jasper De Buyst and Berckmoes, but Rex and Marit could also contribute. The latter can hope for his own chances in smaller races.

In any case, the classics core is strong. With De Lie, Rex, Berckmoes, but also guys like Artz, Barré, and Widar, they can make an impression in many different areas. Could the latter top talent already be ready to shine in Monuments such as Liège-Bastogne-Liège? We will see in 2026. Speaking of talent, Felix Ørn-Kristoff, half-brother of the retired Alexander Kristoff, is making his WorldTour debut and is very fast. Keep an eye on him!

In the mountains, it will be interesting to see if Barré can take a step forward. In the Dauphiné, he showed that he is an excellent climber, but the focus will mainly be on the classics. That is why people are primarily looking at Van Eetvelt, who already has two WorldTour stage races to his name. Widar could also make an impression in smaller tours. But Lotto is taking it slowly with him: we will have to wait and see if we get to see him in the big tours.

1. Huub Artz
2. Louis Barré
3. Jenno Berckmoes
4. Kamiel Bonneu
5. Vito Braet
6. Jasper De Buyst
7. Dries De Pooter
8. Steffen De Schuyteneer
9. Milan Donie
10. Alexy Faure-Prost
11. Joshua Giddings
12. Sébastien Grignard
13. Matys Grisel
14. Simone Gualdi
15. Mathieu Kockelmann
16. Arne Marit
17. Milan Menten
18. Robin Orins
19. Hugo Page
20. Laurenz Rex
21. Lorenzo Rota
22. Jonas Rutsch
23. Liam Slock
24. Dion Smith
25. Gerben Thijssen
26. Reuben Thompson
27. Luca Van Boven
28. Taco van der Hoorn
29. Lorenz Van de Wynckele
30. Lennert Van Eetvelt
31. Baptiste Veistroffer
32. Jarno Widar
33. Georg Zimmermann
34. Felix Ørn-Kristoff