Hagens Berman Axeon continues to be enthusiastic for the 2019 season in announcing the signing of Kevin Vermaerke. The Rancho Santa Margarita native is the second rider to join Axeon from the juniors team, LUX Development Cycling Team.
“Joining Axeon is a dream come true,” said an excited Vermaerke. “The team has shown time and time again that they are the perfect development tool for graduating riders into the world tour, and it is awesome to be a part of such a well-known and respected team.”
The versatile 18-year-old originally from Johannesburg, South Africa is no stranger to development on the road and off. Vermaerke placed 6th on the ITT stage of Tour de Pays du Vaud and went on to finish in 12th place in the general classification. A month later at Trofeo Karlesburg, he climbed onto the podium on stage 2 and finished in the top 10 in the GC. Vermaerke’s season was capped off by a 1st place finish at Omloop van de Maasvallei and an 8th place finish at the 2018 UCI Junior Road World Championships.
Off the road, the ever consistent rider able to perform on any terrain placed 13th at the 2018 UCI Junior MTB World Championships and finished the year in 11th place in the Junior Men MTB rankings.
“Next year my goal is to get as much international experience as possible as I focus solely on road racing,” said Vermaerke. “Hagens Berman Axeon has some of the best U23 riders in the world and it will be great to learn as much as possible from the older riders on the team.”
Vermaerke is the fourth rider to join the 2019 Hagens Berman Axeon roster after signing Karel Vacek, Jakob Egholm, and Sean Quinn.