Flecha, Rujano, Bole and Van Poppel model team kit
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by Guoqiang SongTour of Hainan(Image credit: Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)
Grega Bole is cleared to ride in the WorldTour squad after an internal investigation from his reported involvement in the USADA case(Image credit: Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)
Boy van Poppel has made the switch from the UnitedHealthCare to the Vacansoleil-DCM ProTeam for 2013(Image credit: Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)
Juan Antonio Flecha brings added experience to Vacansoleil's classics squad(Image credit: Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)
Jose Rujano will be the team's general classification hope at the Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)
While many of the teams, including Vacansoleil-DCM, had undertaken training camps prior to the start of 2013, it's only now that new recruits can officially show-off their colours for the coming year. The full contingent of riders was on-hand for a Vacansoleil photo shoot with a number of riders posing for portraits.
Juan Antonio Flecha comes from Team Sky and is one of the few Spaniards in the professional peloton who excels in the often brutal conditions experienced at the Spring Classics. His experience in the cobbled races will no doubt bring additional fire power to the likes of Björn Leukemans - who is a protagonist in the tough one-day races like Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Grega Bole has been officially named in the squad for 2013 after an internal investigation into his apparent involvement and naming in the USADA report that focused on the systematic doping at the US Postal and Discovery Channel teams.
"An analysis by an independent clinical chemist of the profiles in Bole's biological passport has shown nothing inappropriate," said team manager Daan Luijkx in a statement. "Bole in front of our management, lawyer, his manager and me proved his innocence answering a number of questions.
The three-time Giro d'Italia stage winner and Tour de Lankawi overall victor José Rujano will be the team's hopes in the Italian grand tour and hillier stage races. The pint-sized Venezuelan climber will hope to reverse the disappointment of his 2012 Giro campaign that ended due to sickness. His former Androni-Giocatolli team manager Gianni Savio publicly critised his rider and was not convinced the illness was enough to warrant withdrawal from the tour.
Boy van Poppel joins the team alongside his director sportif father after a season racing in the United States with UnitedHealthCare. The 24-year-old achieved a number of promising results in 2012 and will make his ProTeam debut with the Dutch team for 2013.
The team will begin its 2013 season at Australia's Tour Down Under which starts on January 20 with the People's Choice Criterium.
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