US National Criterium Champion Luke Lamperti (Sebastopol, CA) is excited to race for the Soudal Quick-Step Team where he is eager to wear the team jersey for the first time at the Challenge Mallorca as he embarks on his inaugural professional season. With an outlook focused on embracing challenges, setting goals, and learning from experienced teammates, Lamperti’s positive reception and solid training camps position him as a rising star poised to leave a lasting mark in a professional cycling.
Lamperti is “EXCITED TO GET THINGS STARTED!”
I am really happy to be on this team. Soudal Quick-Step has an incredible history with the Classics and developing young riders, and for me personally, getting here was something I wanted to happen, because this is the team of my dreams. All you need to do is have a look over its fantastic list of achievements and number of riders who made history in races such as Flanders and Roubaix to get a sense of how incredible this squad is and the tradition it was in the Monuments.
As a kid, I raced dirt bikes, then moved to mountain biking, after which I made the transition to road cycling. When I was 15, I settled in the Netherlands and raced with the Junior National Team, and I liked what I found in Europe. I am fascinated by the cobbles, their history, what it means taking on them and how different they are from the regular bike race. Cobbles mean a lot of factors, I could even say riding on them it’s kind of similar to motocross in terms of testing and setting.
Back in December, and now in January, I had two solid training camps with the team in Calpe, and I feel ready for my first pro campaign. I’ve never been to Mallorca, but it will be a nice place to start and I’m looking forward to it. I know the races come with different routes, but that doesn’t matter, I’m just happy to don this jersey and pin on a number as a member of Soudal Quick-Step for the first time in my career.
I don’t know what to expect from this season, I don’t have any clear goals as we speak. Hopefully I will get a couple of opportunities to go for some good results and will find out where I am at the moment. But as I said before, I can’t wait to get things started together with the guys. It’s always nice to have new challenges, new goals and guys to learn from, and on this team I get the full package, which makes me happy and motivated.
Photo © Soudal Quick-Step / Getty Images
