Team manager Walter Planckaert of Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise will step down from his role. The 66-year-old Belgian was awarded the prize as best team manager at the Kristallen Fiets award earlier this week and used the occasion to announce his retirement.

Under Planckaert, the Belgian pro continental team won no less than 21 races in 2014 with Tom van Asbroeck who will join Team LottoNL-Jumbo in 2014, he won the individual Europe Tour as well as the team standings,

"In my 70th year, I want to continue as a consultant for the team," he told Het Nieuwsblad. "My current role will be taken by Hans De Clercq. The team is on track and is in good hands. It is a good time to find a successor."

In his active career, Planckaert achieved several notable results, including victories in the Amstel Gold Race (1972), the Tour of Flanders (1976) and a stage victory in the Tour (1978).