21-year-old Belgian climber Mauri Vansevenan will officially turn pro on July 15 with WorldTour team Deceuninck Quick Step (opens in new tab), as planned since last year. This unusual start date is due to the fact that Vansevenin first had to finish his university studies, but now the young man is ready to compete at the highest level of racing.

Vansevenin is the son of former pro Wim Vansevenin, named after 1991 Vuelta a España winner Melchor Mauri, after winning the Giro della Valle d'Aosta in Italy last July, he caught the eye of Patrick Leferet, manager of Detunink Quickstep.

He has already had the opportunity to get to know many of his new teammates at a training camp in West Flanders.

"It was fun," Vansevenin told Sporza.be on Monday. 'I was well taken care of. There were a lot of Belgians and it was nice to run with them. It's something I've always dreamed of doing and I was immediately sucked into the atmosphere of the group."

Along with fellow 21-year-olds Joao Almeida and Andrea Bagioli, Vansevenin is one of the youngest riders on the team. The youngest, of course, is 20-year-old Remco Evenpoel, who joined Dečuninck-Quick Step last season, winning the Clasica San Sebastian, the overall at the Baloise Belgian Tour, and the European Time Trial Champion.

"I'm very good friends with him," Vansevenin said of Evenpol. He's busy enough already."

"But he certainly impressed in training camp. Lemko's strength is unbelievable. He can run on the flat, uphill, downhill, and on the side. It's hard to believe he can do it all, but he can.

Asked if he could be Evenpoel's right-hand man in the future, Vansevenin replied: "Probably. It would be a great experience, but time will tell. It's too early to say."

The next day, he was asked if he would be a right-hand man in the future.

Along with Evenpoel, the two riders could be a big part of Dečuninck-Quickstep's future Grand Tour hopes. Evenpoel will make his Grand Tour debut this year at the Giro d'Italia in October, while Vansevenin will have an "easy" race program that includes major races.

According to Sporza, Vansevenin will compete in the Tour de Ain (August 7-9), followed by the Criterium du Dauphiné, Quebec GP, and Montreal GP in Canada in September, and Coppi et Bartali, Flèche Wallonne, and Brabants Pile in October If selected to represent Belgium in the under-23 age group, he will also compete in the World Championships in Switzerland in late September.