Devolder Vacansoleil bound?
Belgian in talks with Dutch Pro Conti squad
Professional Continental squad Vacansoleil has indicated it may be in the market for Quick Step's Stijn Devolder.
The team's experienced directeur sportif Hillaire Vanderschueren told Dutch daily De Telegraaf that there have 'been conversations' with the dual Tour of Flanders champion, who recently won the Tour of Belgium.
The Vacansoleil outfit is an incarnation of the Unibet.com squad, which was announced as a ProTour team during the 2008 season but wrangling over its ProTour licence and various political machinations meant it wasn't invited to some of the year's biggest races.
The latest version of the team rode last season with a new sponsor - Vacansoleil, a mobile holiday company - and built the squad as a Professional Continental outfit, signing highly-fancied French siblings Brice and Roman Feillu at the conclusion of 2009.
Last month a team spokesman told Cyclingnews that it was confident of extending its current sponsorship deal and was pursuing a secondary sponsor to aid in its push to participate in the Grand Tours.
Devolder's signing would be another indication the team is ramping up its ambitions, and with the Belgian's contract with Quick Step due to expire at the end of 2010 the timing is right for a move. He also came under fire from current team manager Patrick Lefevere ahead of this year's Spring Classics for a lack of racing, giving cause to believe he may be on the way out at season's end.
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