Jordi Meeus is leaving Red Bull to become a lead-out rider for Jonathan Milan

Meeus prepared for life as a pro at the renowned SEG Racing Academy, where many top riders have trained. In 2021, he made the immediate jump to the WorldTour level with BORA-hansgrohe after outstanding results in the U23 category. In his first year as a pro, he immediately proved himself to be incredibly fast: he made his debut in the Vuelta a España and finished second on stage sixteen.

Meeus now has a total of nineteen professional victories to his name, including wins in the Copenhagen Sprint and the Tour de Suisse. His greatest victory, however, was his win on the Champs-Élysées in 2023. He also demonstrated, with an eighth-place finish at Paris-Roubaix a year later, that he is capable of much more than just sprinting.

But at Red Bull, the focus is shifting more and more toward the general classification contenders. With Remco Evenepoel, Florian Lipowitz, Jai Hindley, and Giulio Pellizzari, it became increasingly difficult to put together a truly top-tier lead-out train for the Belgian. That was also evident in this year’s Vuelta, where he failed to secure a victory. And so he’s opting for a new adventure with Lidl-Trek.

A remarkable move, given the number of top sprinters on the team. Mads Pedersen won the green jersey in this year’s Tour, and Jonathan Milan did the same a year earlier. Still, Meeus is up for the challenge. “I’m really looking forward to racing in the Lidl-Trek jersey,” he says on the team’s website. “I’ve always admired the team, especially when I used to watch the races as a kid.”

It was the team’s history that drew him in. “There have always been big names on the team: the Schleck brothers, Cancellara, Stijn Devolder—I still remember when he became Belgian champion while riding for Trek. I’m really looking forward to racing in this jersey and joining the team. I’m looking forward to working in a new environment.”

Meeus will humbly take his place on his new team. “My ambition is to win a lot of races with the team. I’ll help Jonny with the lead-outs and try to get him into the sprints as well as I can. I also have my own ambitions in a number of classics and other sprint races when I get the chance. I’m looking forward to a slightly different role than I’m used to, but I’m really looking forward to being part of the sprint train and growing as a rider.”