Vacansoleil-DCM sprinter follows teammate Hoogerland to Italian squad
Kenny van Hummel has signed a one-year contract with Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela, the Italian Professional Continental team has confirmed. The 31-year-old Dutch sprinter is the latest member of Vacansoleil-DCM to have found employment in 2014, with the ProTeam folding at the end of the year, and joins teammate Johnny Hoogerland at his new team.
“The new reform of Cycling leads us to extend our horizons and to increase our activity in Northern Europe,” explained Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela team manager Gianni Savio. “Kenny Van Hummel will be important in the dual activities that we will perform during the season, participating in races in Italy, France, Belgium and Holland.”
Van Hummel had spent the last two seasons at Vacansoleil-DCM, having previously spent six years with Skil-Shimano. He has taken 23 victories in his career to date, the biggest of which being the 2009 edition of the Dutch Food Valley Classic, with the latest of those coming in August’s Arctic Tour of Norway. Arguably, his biggest result of recent years came in the 2012 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, when he finished third behind then World champion Mark Cavendish and Yauheni Hutarovich.
Despite the current glut of professional cyclist on the market, thanks to the closure of several teams – including ProTeams Vacansoleil-DCM and Euskaltel-Euskadi – virtually all of the current Vacansoleil-DCM roster has managed to find a team for 2014.