Stéphane Heulot Interview
Stéphane Heulot Interview Highlights
It’s a reasonable and prudent mercato. We had a relatively solid framework. My vision and my goal is really to return to the WorldTour in 2026 to perform and not to survive. It’s a job that needs to be anticipated, we’re already in that construction phase.
A professional rider from 1992 to 2002, Stéphane Heulot founded his own team in 2009 with Besson Chaussures — which became Saur-Sojasun and then Sojasun — before becoming the “European” manager of the Rally Cycling team between 2019 and 2021.
Heulot is now the manager of the Lotto-Dstny team, which has had a difficult season in 2023. In this interview, he talks about the team’s mercato, the Tour de France, and his future plans.
On the mercato
“We’ve made a few targeted recruits, but we’ve also kept a lot of our riders. We believe in the potential of our young riders, and we want to give them a chance to develop. We’re not looking to make big splashes in the mercato, we’re more interested in building a team for the future.”
On the Tour de France
“We had a disappointing Tour de France. We were hoping to win a stage, but we didn’t have the legs. We’re still learning, and we’ll be back stronger next year.”
On the future
“My goal is to return Lotto-Dstny to the WorldTour in 2026. We’re building a team that can compete at the highest level, and I’m confident that we can achieve our goals.”
On Caleb Ewan
“We made the decision to let Caleb Ewan go at the end of the season. It was a difficult decision, but we felt it was in the best interests of the team. Caleb is a talented rider, but he’s also a very demanding rider. We felt that we needed to go in a different direction.”
On the relationship between Heulot and Ewan
“There was a lot of tension between Caleb and me this season. We didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. I think that’s part of the reason why he decided to leave the team.”
On the possibility of Ewan returning to Lotto-Dstny
“I would never say never, but I think it’s unlikely. Caleb is a very ambitious rider, and he’s looking for a team that can help him win the biggest races. I don’t think Lotto-Dstny is the right team for him at this stage of his career.”
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