Two days ago Caja Rural confirmed that the first 12 riders on their 2015 roster. Today the team have announced the signings of climbers Eduard Prades and Ricardo Vilela and the renewal of Fabricio Ferrari's contract.

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA have signed Spaniard Eduard Prades and Portuguese Ricardo Vilela from the OFM-continental Quinta da Lixa team for the 2015 season. Furthermore, the team have renewed the contract of Uruguayan Fabrizio Ferrari.

Prades (born in 1987) finally finds a place in the elite ranks. He had an outstanding 2014 season, finishing seventh in the Volta ao Algarve after having been beaten only by Kwiatkowski, Contador and Rui Costa in Monchique and on the Alto do Malhao. He also won a stage and the overall at the Volta Alentejo, triumphed in the GP Abimota and finished fourth in the GP Abimota and fifth in the Spanish road race championships. Due to economic problems at the Portuguese OFM team, he joined the Japanese Matrix team in August. He finished seventh in the Tour  of Hokkaido and this week he will do the Tour of Ijen in Indonesia.

Manager Juanma Hernández described him as "a rider who is good in the mountains and has a fast sprint. He is experienced and he has been among the best in Portugal where he was the only one able to follow Contador. He can go for GC in smaller stage races. He is a rider who also did well as an amateur. In 2014 he was at a high level both in Portugal and Japan and he deserves to be riding for a professional team."

Ricardo Vilela (born in 1987) has always been riding for Portuguese teams: Liberty (2009), Madeinox (2010), Onda-Boavista (2011), Efapel (2012-2013) and OFM (2014). This year he was sixth in the Volta a Portugal.

"He is one of the most consistent riders in Portugal," Hernandez says. "He does well in time trials and the mountains. He is a very consistent and always near the front which will be important in grand tours. He will allow us to have another option in addition to David Arroyo. He can even do better than David in the time trials. I hope he will have a good year.

With these two additions, Caja Rural-Segura RGA has signed 14 riders: David Arroyo, Fernando Grijalva, Antonio Molina, Francesco Lasca and Heiner Parra have an existing contract, Javier Aramendía, Lluis Mas, Amets Txurruka and Pello Bilbao have renewed, and Hugh Carthy (Rapha Condor), Carlos Barbero (Euskadi), Miguel Ángel Benito (Caja Rural amateur team), Prades and Vilela have signed with the team.