Frederic Frison has signed a two-year contract with Lotto Soudal for another two years and will remain with the Belgian team until at least the end of the 2021 season, the team announced.

Frison has been competing on the World Tour since 2016, but prior to that he was part of the under-23 feeder team. This season he has ridden the major spring classics, primarily in a domestique role, and last year he rode his first Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia.

He is the nephew of former pro Hermann Frisson, who won stages in the 1987 Tour de France and 1990 Ghent-Wevelgem, and now works as the team's assistant manager.

The younger Frison missed most of the 2017 season due to injury and glandular fever, but made a comeback last season, finishing third in the Belgian one-day race Dwars door West-Vlaanderen.

"It was a very easy decision to stay with Lot Soudal," he said on the team's website about his new contract extension.

"I know my role within the team and what is expected of me by the team.

"Lot Soudal is really a group of friends. It's a family atmosphere, where you can be yourself," Frison continued. Of course, it's still a job and you need to perform, but the way the team treats the riders is, in my opinion, something you won't find anywhere else."

Regarding his role within the team, Frison said: "I'm the type of guy who can ride hard and I'm good at time trials, so being at the front of the pack is perfect for me. Of course I get a lot of satisfaction when they do well, or when [sprinter] Caleb Yuan finishes, for example. That keeps my motivation and morale high."

"For the next two years, my role will be more or less the same, but I want to take another step forward, especially during the Classics. My personal ambition is to provide a little more support to the leaders in the finale." My personal ambition is to support the leaders a little more in the finale. It's always good to lay the groundwork for the future, and if there's a Grand Tour on the schedule next year, I'm really looking forward to it."

Frison, who missed the recent Cyclassics Hamburg due to illness, said he hopes to be well enough to recover for the Deutschland Tour, which starts on Thursday.

"After that I will take part in the Tour of Britain and a one-day race in Belgium. The race schedule for the end of the year is not 100% clear yet, but the Paris-Tours and a race in China are also options."