Lotto Soudal Ladies Signs Former Triathlete Lorne Mehrtens

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Lotto Soudal Ladies Signs Former Triathlete Lorne Mehrtens

Former triathlete Lorne Meertens has signed with the Lotto Soudal Ladies team for 2020, the team announced.

Meertens is a 21-year-old civil engineering college student who has spent the past two seasons with the Belgian national team, Keukens Redant, balancing academics and racing at the highest level.

"Lot Soudal is on a really great program, which is important to me," Mertens said in a press release.

"I needed the past year to gain experience and now I am ready to step up to the UCI team. I already know some of the riders, like Julie Van de Velde and Jesse Vandenbroucke, and the team is very professional. At the end of next season, I'll be happy if I feel like I've taken another step forward and contributed to the team."

As for academics, Mertens feels he can strike a good balance between racing, training, and college studies.

"I'm in my final year of a bachelor's program in civil engineering. I want to grab the opportunities that Lot Soudal gives me with both hands so I can spend more time training and resting."

"When I was doing triathlons, I realized that if you don't get enough rest, you don't get the most out of your training.

"Since I live in Leuven during the week, I can easily go cycling or go to the gym in between classes.

Meertens competed in triathlons for several years before switching to road racing.

"I often got stomach pains during races, and it was hard to balance triathlons and studying." My brother was already cycling and in 2017 I joined a race to see what it was like. It was 40 degrees that day. With triathlons, I had gastrointestinal issues, but that was not the case. Despite the heat, it went rather smoothly and was fun.

"It wasn't easy to switch from triathlons, though," she continued. For example, the distances are very different from sprint triathlons, so you have to work on your stamina and power."

"Another challenge is course knowledge. I love tough races, and with the Belgian national team I ran in the Czech Republic and discovered that I like the uphills." I have yet to run the Ardennes Classics with my current team, but it's a race I look forward to running in the future."

"I definitely need to develop myself further as a rider and then I will have a clear idea of what I am good at.

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