Lot Soudal has announced that Jana Schiele will be its chief business officer as the Belgian team looks to find a new sponsor and secure its place on the World Tour.

Soudal, an adhesive brand, will be a major sponsor of rival team QuickStep-AquaVinyl (formerly Deceuninck-QuickStep) in 2023, and one of Seel's roles will be to help the UCI award a three-year 2023-2026 finding a new patron for the WorldTour license when it is awarded, along with the Belgian National Lottery. She will also be involved with the women's team and the entire development team.

Team manager John Lelangue has reformed Lotto Soudal for 2022 after a disappointing season. Longtime coach Hermann Frisson and former team manager Marc Serge have been dismissed, and Australian Alan Davies and British Shelley Pridham will join the team.

Caleb Yuan, Philippe Gilbert, Tim Wellens, and Paris-Roubaix revenger Florian Vermeersch remain as team leaders, while John Degenkolb returns to Team DSM. New additions include Victor Campenaerts and a number of young players.

Lotto Soudal won 12 races in 2021, mostly thanks to Ewan, who competed in the UAE Tour, the Giro d'Italia, and the Baloise Belgian Tour. However, the Australian sprinter crashed and retired on stage 4 of the Tour de France.

Seal was Astana's team manager for three years before losing an internal power struggle with Alexandre Vinokurov. She helped bring in Premier Tech as a major sponsor and team owner, but the Canadian company left the Kazakhstan team after Vinokurov's return. Premier Tech was about to play a key role in the Team Bike Exchange and was also negotiating with Israel Startup Nation, which will be ridden by Jacob Husrang and Ugo Uhl in 2022.

"We are pleased to welcome Jana Schiele to our team," Lerangoux said of Schiele's addition.

"We were looking for reinforcements for positions that had not yet been filled, so we created the administrative position of Chief Business Officer with the objective of strengthening the team around it.

"Jana will take the lead on everything related to attracting and retaining sponsors. Yana will be responsible for financial reporting to the Board of Directors. The third pillar is communications, and Jana will define the strategy and lead the communications team.

"There is no doubt that this position will allow me to work more efficiently; as CEO, I will be able to focus more on the overall management of projects and our "core business," sports and performance."

The 37-year-old Seal was born in Kazakhstan and was the sport's first World Tour team manager.

"Even though I was born in Kazakhstan, I feel primarily Belgian. So Lot Soudal feels like coming home," she said.

"I realize that being part of such a traditional team comes with great responsibility. I want to do my best for the team."

"I was ready for a new challenge and had several options, but I immediately felt a connection with Lot Soudal and CEO John Lelangue. We share a passion for cycling and have a clear vision for the future."