Planckaert is one of the quiet pieces that makes Alpecin's headline act work. Cyclingnews singled him out as a lead-out rider of calibre in the 2026 Tour squad, and the team's own profile lists the 31-year-old Belgian at 1.78m and 71kg — compact enough to fight through messy finales, experienced enough to keep Philipsen's wheel in the right place when the road narrows.
Palmarès
- 1 career UCI victory
- Long-time Alpecin lead-out specialist
- Tour support rider for Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel (2026)
Cut-out factHe comes from cycling royalty: the Planckaert name is woven through Belgian racing, and Edward has built his own identity as a practical, trusted pilot rather than a headline hunter.
The squad
Riding the 2026 Tour with Mathieu van der Poel, Ramses Debruyne, Silvan Dillier, Tim Marsman, Jasper Philipsen, Jonas Rickaert, Emiel Verstrynge — see the full Alpecin–Premier Tech team page.
Portrait: AI paper-collage render (gpt-image-2) after a reference photograph — source: Wikimedia Commons, author: Jérémy-Günther-Heinz Jähnick, license: CC BY-SA 3.0.
A fan project — not affiliated with the Tour de France or A.S.O.
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