British teenager Alex Braybrooke is to swap Belgium for the south of France in 2017, having signed for French DN1 team AVC Aix-en-Provence.
Braybrooke spent 2016 racing for Lotto-Soudal U23, the feeder outfit to the WorldTour team. He lived and raced alongside James Shaw who enjoyed a successful stagiaire-ship with Lotto-Soudal and subsequently signed a two-year professional contract with them.
Due to the U23 team reducing the size of its squad, however, Braybrooke was forced to look for another team and he has been recruited by AVC - a year after he chose Lotto-Soudal over them.
"I almost signed for them last year and they have been really good with me since I have got back in contact with them. I'm looking forward to it," the 19-year-old told Cycling Weekly.
As a junior, he courted a lot of interest with his results for the HMT Academy team, including coming second at the Junior Tour of the Basque Country and winning the Signal d'Écouves in 2015.
The 2016 season was about settling into a new country and a new way of racing and he performed admirably until a broken arm suffered in a crash in September ended his season prematurely.
His race calendar in 2017 will consist of a number of stage races in France, UCI 1.2 and 2.2 races, U23 races in Italy, and Coupe de France events.
"The team raced in a couple of big stage races this year - the Tour du Loir et Cher, the Tour du Pays de Savoie and Tour of Alsace - and they are races that in the future I think I can do well in," he added.
"By the end of this season I felt stronger in races and hopefully I can carry that onto next year and use this year's experiences to be competitive.
"I gained a lot of experience from racing in Belgium and I enjoyed it a lot. France is a different scene but hopefully being one year stronger and wiser I can push on next year.
"It'll be a little different to Lotto in that there are older riders on the team, but they are one of the best DN1 teams that are focused on development."
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
-
-
Is this Ineos Grenadiers' Tour de France team? Geraint Thomas teases with eight-man training squad photo
It would not be a surprise to see the same faces in Copenhagen
-
Vincenzo Nibali rolls back the years with shark attack on stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia
37-year-old up to fifth on general classification with five stages left
-
Racing every race like it's the last of the season: how smaller teams are overperforming this year
Lotto-Soudal and Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux have won 11 races between them in 2022 after just 21 in all of last year, so what's going on?
-
Meet Florian Vermeersch, the history student and local councillor who finished second at Paris-Roubaix
The Lotto Soudal rider on living up to new expectations, the new approach of his team, and how time trialling helps in the Classics
-
Paris-Roubaix runner-up Florian Vermeersch posts incredible ride to Strava
The 22-year-old Belgian put in an astonishing ride on his 'Hell of the North' debut
-
Caleb Ewan out of Tour de France 2021 with collarbone fracture
The Australian crashed in the final stretch of stage three, bringing down Peter Sagan with him
-
Lotto-Soudal rider sent off course as he led solo in final kilometre at Ronde van Limburg
Brent Van Moer looked in with a chance of taking his first pro victory before he as sent off course
-
Lotto-Soudal down to just two riders at the Giro d'Italia 2021 after Thomas De Gendt abandons
The team have struggled with injuries since Caleb Ewan left the race
-
Giro d’Italia 2021: Caleb Ewan says stage win a relief as he targets victory in all three Grand Tours in a single season
The Australian sprinter delivered another remarkable sprint
-
Caleb Ewan fires at the final moment to win stage five of the Giro d'Italia 2021
The Australian won the day as crashes affected the GC race
