Vacansoleil announces the departure of Feillu
This morning, Pro-Continental cycling team Vacansoleil announced to De Telegraaf that 25-year-old Brice Feillu would be leaving the team one year before the expiration of his contract. The French rider, younger brother of teammate Romain Feillu, has cited numerous reasons for his dissatisfaction with the Dutch team, included their aggressive racing philosophy, the language barrier, and Vacansoleil’s failure to secure an invitation to the 2010 Tour de France, a long-term goal of the younger Feillu.
“It has been decided that Brice and Vacansoleil will go their separate ways at the end of the season,” said a team spokesman.
The brothers each signed a two-year contract with the team last year. With French team Agritubel, Brice won a stage in the 2009 Tour de France and Romain held the yellow jersey for a day in 2008. Vacansoleil had hoped that signing the French riders would increase their chances of being invited to the Tour, but all three Grand Tours passed on the team in 2010.
“For Romain, the Tour isn’t a major objective, but I was really disappointed,” said Brice. “I knew that there was a risk in going to Vacansoleil and I wanted to take that risk to be with Romain. I’m not going to say I regret it because you learn from all experience.”
The younger brother’s best results of his poor 2010 season were two eighth place finishes in one-day races. His brother has fared better as a sprinter and last week he won a stage at the Vuelta a Burgos.
“Romain and I are completely different riders, we’re not inseparable,” said Brice. “Romain is following his path and I’m following mine, but perhaps one day we’ll team up again.”
He will be paying a fee to cancel his contract, but that has not deterred him. Neither has the fact that Romain has so far given no indication of leaving Vacansoleil, which means the brothers will be competing for separate squads for the first time since Brice turned pro.
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