Sylvain Chavanel models the new Quick Step kit.(Image credit: Sigried Eggers)
Sylvain Chavanel, Kevin Seeldrayers, Tom Boonen, Carlos Barredo and Stijn Devolder will lead Quick Step in 2010.(Image credit: Sigried Eggers)
Quick Step has settled their full 27-man roster for 2010, with three new riders signed to the coming season. The Belgian team has also revealed the first official images of the squad's 2010 kit.
Belgians Iljo Keisse, 27, and Nikolas Maes, 23, are joined by German sprinter Andreas Stauff, 22, as the new additions to the team, which will be built around established riders Tom Boonen, Stijn Devolder, Sylvain Chavanel and Carlos Barredo.
Despite the relative youth of Maes and Stauff, the team does not include any neo-pros. Both riders have competed as professionals for a number of years, albeit at the tiers beneath the ProTour level. Keisse, too, will make his ProTour debut with the team
In 2009, Quick Step took a number of significant victories, including Boonen and Devolder's respective Spring Classic wins at Paris-Roubaix and Ronde van Vlaanderen, and Barredo's triumph at the Clásica San Sebastián.
Tom Boonen has already indicated that a fourth Paris-Roubaix title will be an early season priority for 2010.
Despite the team's continued focus on their established Classic stars, team manager Patrick Lefevere recently showed his interest in high general classification results at Grand Tours with his ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recruit Alberto Contador to the team.
The burden of responsibility for those high results looks likely to fall on the younger members of the team. Quick Step said they will look to riders such as Kevin Seeldraeyers - winner of the Giro d'Italia's young rider classification - to step up a level in the new season. Seeldraeyers, 23, is therefore likely to be given the opportunity to improve on what was a 14th place overall finish in his second Grand Tour start.
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The team has also revealed their 2010 kit, based closely on the retro design the squad was banned from using during the 2009 spring classics season. The predominantly blue jersey includes the logo of new bike sponsor Eddy Merckx and has been matched with black shorts.
