After receiving its ProTeam license, Team Europcar has added another rider to its roster for the coming season. 33-year-old climber Maxime Mederel will get a chance to ride at the highest level after two years as a Sojasun rider.

When Team Europcar applied for a ProTeam license, manager Jean-Rene Bernaudeau made it clear that he would need to add a few more riders to his roster if the application was successful. To cover the bigger racing burden, the team needed a broader base.

The first new signing was already announced on the same day when they team received the final confirmation that it will be back at the highest level in 2014. U23 Canadian champion Antoine Duchesne will get the chance to turn professional in their green jersey.

According to L'Equipe, the team has now added another rider to its roster as the French newspaper reports that they have signed Maxime Mederel. The 33-year-old Frenchman is known as a strong climber who was part of the ProTour in 2008 when he turned professional with Credit Agricole but has been riding at a lower level since his debut year.

In the past two seasons, he has been riding for the Sojasun team which folded at the end of the season. For a long time, it seemed that his career could be over but in a change of fortunes, he will now ride at an even higher level instead.

Mederel proved his talents in this year's edition of the Tour of Turkey where he finished 3rd (after the disqualification of Mustafa Sayar). For the first time ever, he did a grand tour when he was selected for the Tour de France, ending the race 52nd overall. Despite his consistent results in hilly French stage races, he still hasn't won a race at the top level.

Mederel is the 7th new rider on the Europcar roster. Fabrice Jeandesboz and Jimmy Engoulvent will also join from Sojasun, Yannick Martinez comes from La Pomme Marseille, Romain Sicard from Euskaltel and Duchesne from Bontrager while Romain Guillemois will turn professional in the green jersey.