Intermarché-Wanty welcomes Franky Van Haesebroucke to the Performance Team as a new sports director. The former Belgian professional cyclist brings his valuable experience to the structure led by Jean-François Bourlart, with twenty years of experience behind the wheel across five continents.
Following his professional cycling career, which concluded in 2001, Van Haesebroucke discovered the role of sports director in 2002 with the Australian team iTeamNova. Since then, he has worked on five continents, in both the men’s and women’s peloton. His versatility and experience were acquired within international structures such as Champion System Pro Cycling Team, Veranda’s Willems Cycling Team, Wiggle Honda, and most recently, the New Zealand-based team Bolton Equities Black Spoke.
He led the latter to become the best UCI Continental team in the two seasons following its founding, enabling its promotion to the Pro Continental level. The team made a splash in Europe with successes in events such as the GP Cerami, La Roue Tourangelle, and the Tour de Luxembourg, highlighting his ability to develop talent and achieve results with diverse rider profiles.
Franky Van Haesebroucke will make his debut behind the wheel of the Škoda-Steveny cars this opening weekend of the Belgian classics. Within the Intermarché-Wanty structure, he reinforces the team of sports directors managed by Performance Manager Aike Visbeek, which also includes Dimitri Claeys, Steven De Neef, Sébastien Demarbaix, Ken Hashikawa, Kévin Van Melsen, Pieter Vanspeybrouck, and Bart Wellens.
"I've always felt a certain affinity for the Intermarché-Wanty team, with whom I've had many contacts, as they are the best example of those teams considered outsiders, capable of achieving prestigious successes with limited resources. This was also the case with my last team, Bolton Equities Black Spoke. Like Intermarché-Wanty, we got the best out of our riders by being opportunistic. As a sports director, you have to convince the riders that they can accomplish great things by taking advantage of smart strategies at crucial moments. My strength lies in inspiring and motivating riders. Working with an expanded Performance Team offers new perspectives and the opportunity to develop strategies together. This is my first experience in a World Tour structure, so I look forward to working with many familiar faces and getting to know the rest of this big family this week, finding my bearings, and putting my experience to good use."
"With Franky Van Haesebroucke, we welcome to our team a Belgian sports director who brings his rich international experience behind the wheel. He strengthens our Performance Team, both organizationally and sports-wise. With the Bolton Equities Black Spoke team, Franky demonstrated that he could lead his riders, from diverse backgrounds, to remarkable results against the best teams in the peloton. A working method and development strategy that perfectly align with our philosophy. We are therefore happy to welcome him before a baptism of fire this Belgian opening weekend at Omloop Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne."
