Fly V Australia signs McEwen
Today veteran Australian cyclist, Robbie McEwen, was confirmed to be signed to the Fly V Australia team, which has applied for a ProTour license for the 2011 season. McEwen, three-time Tour de France green jersey winner and12-time stage winner in both the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, has been riding for team Katusha for the last two years.
"Katusha has been great over the past two seasons and I'll be giving 100 percent right up to my last race of 2010," said McEwen.
He is now Fly V Australia's latest acquisition of a rider from a ProTour team, in manager Chris White’s effort to match the sporting requirements for achieving that classification.
"I chose to make this move because I have a lot of respect for Chris White, his drive and vision, and what he is doing for Australian cycling. I know with the riders coming on board that we'll have a very strong, competitive team. I'm really looking forward to next year – my 17th season as a professional."
White is expected to make more signings, having already announced the acquisition of Svein Tuft from Garmin-Transitions. McEwen and White both lived in Brisbane and were training partners in the early years of McEwen’s long and successful career.
"It's quite ironic that Robbie and I used to train and race together when Robbie first started road racing back in the early 1990s," said White. "In fact the lineage of the Pegasus Sports team can be traced to a team I started in 1993, that Robbie and I both raced on. Just as he was back then, Robbie will be a great fit and a tremendous asset for our team."
McEwen recently finished in second place in the 20th Memorial Rik Van Steenberger, behind Michael Van Staeyen and ahead of Jurgen Roelandts in a bunch sprint. The 196km event was held on Wednesday and added to the hundreds of podium finishes achieved by McEwen in his long career.
Tags: