Roompot Orange Peloton has strengthened the squad for next season with Barry Markus. The 24-year-old sprinter has four years of experience as a professional and arrives from LottoNL-Jumbo.He is recruited to replace Dylan Groenewegen, who actually makes the transition to the Dutch WorldTour team. Markus signs a contract for one season.

The Dutchman is satisfied witht he move: "Obviously I am very pleased with the opportunity I get at Roompot Orange Platoon. It is a team where I hoped to be able to go, even though I had other options. We are going to ride a great program full of races where I can go to get good results. Moreover, it is funny that my cousin Dylan and I literally swap positions."

Apart from a second place in Dwars door Drenthe, a third place in a stage at the Tour de l'Ain and 4th place in a sprint at the World Ports Classic in Antwerp, Markus has had a season without many highlights. "And because I often has to ride in the sprint train for Theo Bos in 2014 from which I learned a lot, I am full of ambition to get more chances to score good results next year. I obviously hope to do like I did in the season where I was third in the Scheldeprijs behind Kittel and Cavendish."

On behalf of his new team, Jean-Paul van Poppel is realistic about the lean palmares of Markus for the last two years. "It is clear that Barry has a few less good seasons behind. But one of our principles is to give riders a second chance. I have known Barry for quite a while. After a time as stagiaire at Vacansoleil-DCM in 2011, he showed in the next two years that he is one of the faster Dutch sprinters of his generation. We will do everything to get him back to that level," said the team leader who will give extra extra attention to sprinters at Roompot Orange Peloton.