Swedish cycling has lacked representation in the men's World Championship tour for a few years. The step up from Lidl-Trek's development team means that Söderqvist meets the team's high demands and lives up to expectations.
He has shown this on the occasions he has been given a chance in the A-team.
I have been pleasantly surprised most of the time, he says.
He took silver in the time trial in both the U23 World Championship and U23 European Championship last year and participated in the Olympic Games. He also won the road races Tour de Bretagne and Flèche du Sud and delivered several other strong performances.
A few days ago, he came second in the Paris-Roubaix race in the U23 class.
Söderqvist will become a full member of the team when his two-year contract takes effect on January 1, 2026.
"It marks the start of a new chapter in my athletic career and a chapter where the possibilities are endless. I will try to make the most of it and see how far we can go," he says in a press release.
That he gets to ride on the World Championship tour did not come as a surprise.
"I felt that the confirmation was just around the corner since I achieved good results last year."
Team manager Sebastian Andersen:
"I believe that Jakob has enormous potential. He is relatively new to cycling and he is a bit of an uncut diamond in the sport. He has a big engine and he has incredible power, which we have seen throughout last year."
