Circus – Wanty Gobert – Tormans have confirmed the signing of Jan Bakelants, becoming the 26th rider on their 2020 roster. Bakelants has signed a one year contract with the Belgian UCI Pro Team.
The 33 year-old Belgian rider brings a wealth of experience to the team having raced at WorldTour level for ten years. Bakelants started his professional career with Topsport Vlaanderen–Mercator in 2009 and went on to race with Omega Pharma–Lotto, RadioShack–Nissan, Omega Pharma–Quick-Step, AG2R La Mondiale before signing for Team Sunweb for the 2019 season.
Amongst his career highlight have been a stage win at the Tour de France in 2013, where he also wore the yellow jersey. He also won the Grand Prix de Wallonie (2013), a stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné (2014) and the Tours of Piedmont and Emilia (2015). Bakelants finished four times in the top 25 of the Tour de France and hopes to ride the Tour again this summer.
Jan Bakelants: “Circus – Wanty Gobert – Tormans is a perfect fit for me! I want to become the rider I was in an environment in which an aggressive riding style is preferred. The exciting race calendar with an extensive World Tour programme of this Belgian Pro Team is very attractive. I’m looking forward to share my experience with my new teammates and to perform at the Tour of Catalonia and the Ardennes classics. I’m very motivated to get started and to be a part of the team’s success!”
Hilaire Van der Schueren: “I noticed his big motivation during the conversations we’re having since October. We strongly believe in his added value; he’ll show the ropes of the pro peloton to our young neo pros and he’ll assist our older riders in the classics and hopefully the Tour de France!”
