Telenet-Fidea rider to switch to rival team in March
Belgian cyclocross rider Kevin Pauwels is to switch from his current Telenet-Fidea team to Sunweb-Revor, but not until the end of the current cyclocross season. Unlike road riders, where contracts generally run from January 1st to December 31st, cyclocross riders often have their contracts across the new year so that they ride the full winter for the same team.
The 26-year-old’s new contract will commence on March 1st, the day after his deal with the team, which he was been with since 2004, ends.
“The agreement shall commence as of 1 March 2011, and will expire at the end of 2013,” confirmed Sunweb-Revor team manager Jurgen Mettepenningen. “With Kevin in the equation, we will once again have someone with a lot of potential. Kevin is a good reinforcement for Sunweb-Revor’s Klaas Vantornout and can also make the race. With him can continue to grow our team.”
Last season, Pauwels took the biggest win of his career so far, with the World Cup race in Heusden-Zolder on December 26th. At Telenet-Fidea though, he sits way down the pecking order from new World champion Zdenek Stybar and legendary veteran Bart Wellens. The team also has 21-year-old Belgian prodigy Tom Meeusen, and signed 25-year-old Tom Peeters from Landbouwkrediet this season.
“I had a need for the fresh air of a new team”, said the rider from Kalthout. “In the case of Sunweb-Revor can I have my own opportunities on a weekly basis and I don’t have to ride in the service of someone else any more; this is important in the context of my further development.
“Of course, the financial aspect also played a role,” he admitted. “Sunweb-Revor did me a nice financial proposal that I could not just ignore. My current agreement at Telenet-Fidea runs until the end of the cyclocross season, which I will of course honour.”
As well as riding a full winter season Pauwels also races on the road in the summer, as most cyclocross riders do to stay fit. This year he won a stage of the Flèche du Sud in May and a stage of the Tour de Serbie in June.