Intermarché-Wanty continues its investment in the talents of tomorrow with the arrival of the young Walloon rider Édouard Claisse. The 16 year old junior from Vaudignies, in the province of Hainaut, tied his future to the structure of Jean-François Bourlart.
With the Norwegian rider Felix Ørn-Kristoff, Édouard Claisse is the second junior to benefit from the support of Intermarché-Wanty in sight of his passage in the U23 category in 2026 with the Continental Development team Wanty-ReUz-Technord under the direction of Kévin Van Melsen.
Édouard Claisse is one of the most promising Belgian cycling talents of his generation. During seasons 2022 and 2023, he cumulated 40 victories on all terrains with his Cube Litening C:68X, among which two stages and the overall classification of the prestigious Tour de l’Ain and a stage in the Triptyque Ardennais.
Stepping up to the junior category in 2024, he immediately won two races after his participation in the winter training camp of Wanty-ReUz-Technord in Alicante in February. He also finished next to the podium in international competitions, with fourth places in the Gran Premi Les Franqueses in Espagne and in the Tour du Bocage et de l’Ernée in France.
"Pursuing my development with the structure of Intermarché-Wanty was a logical choice for me. Because they support me for quite a long time already, both with equipment and with a daily follow up through my trainer Christophe Prémont and others. In addition to this bond of trust, I have a quite strong sense of belonging to the team. I'm born in Ath, just like the project of Jean-François Bourlart, so it makes me proud to represent the colours of my local team. I've always been welcomed with open arms, both by the staff and the pro riders I admire. I spent quite some time talking to Gerben Thijssen during the winter training camp of the World Team and learned a lot. For the time trial discipline I like to address my questions to Rune Herregodts. Recently I received advice from sports director Dimitri Claeys to prepare for the gravel roads during the four day stage race Eroica, my first experience with the Belgian national team starting this Thursday. This year, my main goals are the Classique des Alpes and the Tour du Valromey, two prestigious races in my category in which I hope to finish in the top 10 to return with more experience in my second season as a junior. I want to pursue my development step by step, hoping to realise my dream of participating in the Tour de France with Intermarché-Wanty."
"We launched our Continental Development Team Wanty-ReUz-Technord with the aim of developing young talents and enabling them to become professional cyclists. As the first Walloon World Team, Intermarché-Wanty attaches a lot of importance to the development of Belgian talents - Walloon riders in particular - in its philosophy. So I am proud that a highly coveted talent such as Édouard has chosen to follow in the footsteps of William Graff, Sacha Prestianni or encore Tim Rex, who made remarkable progression since their arrival. This shows the quality of our development structure and it is a reward for the confidence we put in Édouard from a young age and for the good contacts we maintained with his family. He's a rider with plenty of different qualities, who really impressed me during our winter training camps. But if I need to pick one aspect, it would be his maturity in his race vision. At his age, it is rather exceptional to know exactly how to manage a race to win. He learns very fast and has a nice margin for progression. Our intention is to give him the necessary time to develop himself. I can't wait to welcome in our colours from 2026."
"We follow the evolution of Édouard Claisse for a long time already. This young Walloon talent from the province of Hainaut, where the heart of our structure is situated, has a profile that perfectly matches our development philosophy. That's why we started supporting him in his development last season, step by step. Édouard is followed on a daily basis by our trainer Christophe Prémont and benefits from material support. In February he participated to the training camp of Wanty-ReUz-Technord in Alicante. He is regularly present at team training sessions or races. In this way, he can familiarise with our organisation and pursue his learning process in a family-type and professional setting. We're happy that the development structure we've built continues attracting promising talents in the junior category in Wallonia, in addition to international talents such as Simone Gualdi and Felix Ørn-Kristoff. »
"Édouard Claisse is one of the most promising talents of his generation.In the junior category he is competitive on all terrains. In the U17 category he won both in the mountains of the Tour de l'Ain and in the flat Belgian races. His results speak for themselves, however, I attach more importance to the linear progression I notice since we started working together one and a half year ago. And especially, there's still a lot of room for progression. For now, we focus on the basics, learning how to manage the training load and how to eat well, before searching for marginal gains. Édouard shows eagerness to learn and keeps both feet on the ground, he knows how to surround him with good people. The past year we built a relationship of trust. Within the structure of Intermarché-Wanty, we have long term plans for his development as a cyclist, to reach his maximal potential, step by step and in a serene way."
