The talented Belgian rider Vito Braet will join Intermarché-Circus-Wanty on 1st of January 2024. The 22 year old neopro will make his World Tour debut for at least the next two seasons, following in the footsteps of his compatriots Aimé De Gendt, Pieter Vanspeybrouck or more recently Rune Herregodts and Arne Marit, who all joined the Walloon team coming from Team Flanders - Baloise.
This season, the allround rider immediately distinguished himself in the Etoile de Bessèges, as winner of the mountain jersey thanks to two consecutive long breakaways. He then collected top ten results in Le Samyn (9th), the GP Monseré (8th) and the Ronde van Drenthe (10th) in March.
In April, he finished in the top twenty of the difficult and wet Brabantse Pijl (16th) for the second edition in a row. In May he achieved his first podium as a professional rider against the best sprinters in the world, taking third in a bunch sprint in the Tour of Hungary behind Fabio Jakobsen and Phil Bauhaus.
"I was honoured by the interest of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty and my first contact with Aike Visbeek. Like Rune Herregodts and Arne Marit last year, the team wanted to offer me the opportunity to step up to the World Tour coming from development structure Flanders-Baloise. I'll be reunited with my two former teammates, who both showed their potential this season. Like them, I have the ambition to benefit from the investments of the team to make progression and I'm convinced that it is possible to make steps already this winter. I'm looking forward to bike fitting sessions and aero tests on the time trial bike for example, because I attach importance to this discipline. My race programme will be more selective in order to prepare my goals in a more effective way. I will learn a lot with Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, for example from its approach in the races. I only heard and read positive things about the equipment here, so I can't wait to jump on a Cube bike for the first time!"
"We attach a lot of importance to the classics, that's why we are continuously building our group of young talents with capabilities of showing themselves in difficult races and with a progression margin. Vito Braet has shown that he is able to maintain a high level during a long race block. In preparation of the 2023 spring classics he distinguished himself in an offensive role in the Etoile de Bessèges by winning the mountain classification thanks to two successive long breakaways. He then obtained results in cobble classics and challenging races such as the Brabantse Pijl. In May he finished third in a bunch sprint in the Tour of Hungary, ahead of riders such as Ewan, Bennett or Groenewegen. The fact that he is a trusted element of the national selections and his time trial performances in the youth categories also convinced us about his capabilities. I expect him to follow in the footsteps of his compatriots Rune Herregodts and Arne Marit and to rapidly make steps forward in the colours of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty."
