Trek Factory Racing is pleased to announce an affiliation with Team APT-SPIE-Douterloigne, a Belgian junior and debutant program that has a proven record of scouting and developing promising teenagers. The relationship between the teams shows Trek’s belief in a bright future for cycling, and complements the partnership with US-based ISCorp, the junior team that acts as TFR’s official development team.

“We have an established partnership with ISCorp, but it was our desire to carry out a support program for grass roots cycling in Europe as well, and we are happy to have found the right partner to do so. Trek Factory Racing will be supporting the riders of Team APT-Spie-Douterloigne with our extensive race and training experience,” General Manager Luca Guercilena said.

“We will also establish close relationships with their marquee riders and give them access to our training and racing expertise,” says Guercilena. “For example: we have an evident overhead cost for training camps. Therefore, it’s a small step for us to invite some key junior riders to those camps. The experience they can build there is vital for their progression as riders.”

Team APT-SPIE-Douterloigne has been recruiting and developing junior riders (U18) for five years and also has a debutant program (U16) since the 2014 season.

“We are very happy to partner up with Trek Factory Racing. The direct access to their expertise and connections to race organizers will be crucial for us as a feeder team. We have a clear mission to support debutant and junior riders in their progression, offering them a wide range of races. This affiliation is a win-win for both parties. We can vouch for talent scouting for TFR and our key riders have privileged access to TFR’s quality coaching,” Team APT-SPIE-Douterloigne’s president Olivier Onderbeke said.

“The APT-SPIE-Douterloigne team has a strong focus on climbers and time trialists, which is quite out-of-the-box considering that they are from Belgium and Belgian junior teams tend to concentrate on finding the next Tom Boonen. They race abroad a lot and I’m pleased to see that every year they manage to have at least one rider make it across to the pros,” Guercilena finished.