The sudden and unexpected retirement of Lieuwe Westra from Pro Continental team Wanty-Groupe Gobert has opened an opportunity for 23-year-old Dion Smith, who raced with One Pro Cyclng last season, and was due to remain with the team until it was met with a drawback in budget and a move down to the Continental level for this year.
The New Zealander signed a two-year deal with the Belgian team.
Smith previously rode for the Hincapie team in the US for two years before moving on to what had initially been a two-year deal with One Pro Cycling starting in 2016.
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Westra, 34, rode on the WorldTour level for six years, the past three with Astana. He was the final 2017 signing Wanty-Groupe Gobert, but he abruptly announced last week he was retiring from the sport.
Wanty-Groupe Gobert acted quickly to fill the vacant spot.
"The goal of our team is to keep developing young talents," said team General Manager Jean-François Bourlart. "We were talking to Dion since internal changes at One Pro Cycling. Unfortunately, we had no more space for him this year. But following the stop of Lieuwe Westra, we had a golden opportunity to hire him. It is important to be able to secure a talented young rider as him for two years."
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