AG Insurance-NXTG has completed its rider recruitment for 2023 by filling out an Elite, a U23 and a U19 team with riders. It is the only Belgian team with a trio of teams and a clear pathway like this. With the Elite team trying its best to join the Women’s WorldTour as soon as possible, it will soon be able to provide a route from a junior all the way through to the top of women’s cycling.
AG Insurance-NXTG has applied to join the WWT in 2023 but there are 2 other teams ranked higher, so will need a small miracle for their application to be successful. They remain in a good position though to race hard and gain enough points to automatically join the WWT for the period 2024-2026. The team is currently ranked 18th, with the top 15 applied teams over 2022 & 2023 (one of the top 18 won’t apply in Valcar) qualifying for the WWT at the end of next year. The team are within touch distance and the signings they’ve made this off-season should help them get across the line. The marquee signing of South African and recent Tour de Romandie winner Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio has the potential to turbocharge the team to the front of WWT GC battles for the first time. Other new signings like Maaike Boogaard, Nicole Steigenga, Romy Kasper, Justine Ghekiere, Mireia Benito and the return of Lotta Henttala make for a strong roster.
Elite team
Mireia Benito (ESP)
Maaike Boogaard (NED)
Julia Borgström (SWE)
Justine Ghekiere (BEL)
Marthe Goossens (BEL)
Lotta Henttala (FIN)
Romy Kasper (GER)
Britt Knaven (BEL)
Anya Louw (AUS)
Gaia Masetti (ITA)
Lone Meertens (BEL)
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA)
Ilse Pluimers (NED)
Maud Rijnbeek (NED)
Nicole Steigenga (NED)
Ally Wollaston (NZL)
U23 team
Maureen Arens (NED)
Febe Jooris (BEL)
Julia Kopecky (CZE)
Mirre Knaven (NED)
Senne Knaven (BEL)
Jade Linthoudt (BEL)
Fien Masure (BEL)
Laura Lizette Sander (EST)
Noëlle Rüetschi (SUI)
Yuli van der Molen (NED)
Eline van Rooijen (NED)
U19 team
Laia Bosch Ballús (ESP)
Ella Heremans (BEL)
Nela Kankovska (CZE)
Fee Knaven (NED)
Nora Linton (CAN)
Margot Marasco (FRA)
Lore De Schepper (BEL)
Luca Vierstraete (BEL)
Nanoi Van Wettere (BEL)
“In 2023 we take a NeXT step with the addition of an elite team with sixteen riders, eight of those coming from our own development structure.
Julia, Britt, Anya, Gaia, Lone, Ilse, Maud, and Ally have shown this year they are ready for that step up. With the addition of eight new riders, both experienced and upcoming riders, we have a balanced team for races on the Belgian cobbles but also the Ardennes and the higher mountains abroad like the Tour de France Femmes. It’s a well-rounded squad and I can’t to see what they can do next year.”
Natascha den Ouden, AG Insurance-NXTG team CEO
“I look back with great admiration and a lot of warmth on the performance of the teams in 2022,
I am not even talking about the sporting successes but rather about the evolution that the team went through. Both the team and the staff have grown over the past year. And with the creation of the elite team, AG Insurance-NXTG will take another step next year.
With our three-part structure we offer young talents every opportunity to make their cycling dreams come true and to develop sustainably in a professional environment. With real opportunities to grow from the base to the top: from the U19, over the U23 to the elite team. To see half of the current U23 team step up the elites is perhaps the biggest victory of the 2022 season.
I am convinced that next year we will see beautiful things from them and from Jolien D’hoore and the rest of the experienced staff who chose to be part of our project.”
Heidi Delobelle, AG Insurance CEO
