After months of uncertainty, Kevin Seeldraeyers can now continue his training for the coming season with peace in mind. Yesterday Wanty-Groupe Gobert confirmed that the Belgian climber has signed a contract with the team for 2014.
Kevin Seeldraeyers has been through some difficult months after he was told by his Astana team that his contract wouldn't be renewed. He has publicly expressed his surprise and frustration that his strong results in the Tour of Austria were not enough for him to earn a contract with another team for 2014.
Finally, Seeldraeyers can put his uncertainty to rest after yesterday's announcement by the Wanty-Groupe Gobert team that they have signed the Belgian climber for the coming season. The team which is led by current Vacansoleil sports director Hilaire van der Schueren published a photo via Twitter that showed Seeldraeyers signining his new contract.
Already a few days ago, van der Schueren revealed that he had reached an agreement with Seeldraeyers but having learnt from his past experience with Ben Hermans who broke a verbal agreement to sign with BMC, he refused to take anything for granted.
"I am a little cautious because of the fact that Ben Hermans surprisingly changed his mind at the last minute," he told Het Nieuwsblad at the time. "I have learned that a deal is never confirmed before it has been signed but basically nothing should prevent the move."
Seeldraeyers was once regarded as the next big Belgian stage racer and won the white jersey for best young rider in the 2009 Giro d'Italia. However, his progress stalled and he has mostly been working as a domestique after joining Astana in 2012.
Having had a bad crash in Paris-Nice, Seeldraeyers found his legs in time for the Tour de France but was omitted from the 9-rider roster by his Kazakh team. He proved them wrong by winning two stages and finishing 3rd overall in the Tour of Austria which is run concurrently with the Grande Boucle.
Having publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the non-selection, he only got the chance to do three one-day races after the Austrian race and didn't get his contract renewed. He faced an uphill battle to find a new team, often stating his disappointment, but appears now to have secured his future career. He will provide the team with considerable firepower in the stage races.
Until now, the team has mostly signed classics riders but Seeldraeyers will offer them options in multi-day events as well. Van der Schueren recently confirmed that he still hoped to sign Samuel Sanchez as the Spaniard could potentially open the doors to one of the grand tours.
29.03: La Route Adélie de VItré |
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30.03: Gran Premio Miguel Indurain |
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