Having added a genuine GC talent in Rigoberto Uran, the Belgian outfit need to hire riders capable of supporting him in the mountains. They seem to have done that, announcing verbal agreements with Janier Acevedo (Jamis-Hagens Berman) and Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM), both are natural climbers and should be capable support for Uran.
Janier Acevedo has been a revelation in 2013, impressing in all four stage races he competed in which featured World Tour riders. His season opened in the Tour de San Luis where he finished 8th,two places ahead of Vincenzo Nibali but not a great race to judge a rider on. At the Amgen Tour of California he won the 2nd stage in the scorching heat, was 2nd behind Leopold Konig, but ahead of Tejay Van Garderen, on Mount Diablo, finishing 3rd overall. Next up was the Larry H.Miller Tour of Utah where he was 2nd on the final stage and 3rd overall. Finally was the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado, another win on a mountain stage and a 4th overall finish. As well as showing impressive consistency, Acevedo has shown that he is a fine climber who can descend like a stone. He will be 28 when he joins the World Tour, a little older than most neo-pro riders, and he may take a while to settle, however with a little time he should become a real asset for Uran.
In the 2011 Vuelta a Espana the 23 year old Wout Poels demonstrated why he was regarded as a terrific young climbing talent, finishing 17th overall and with four top 10 finished on mountain stages. He was 2nd on the steep finish to Valdepenas de Jaen and even more impressively finished 2nd on the Alto de L’Angirlu. Unfortunately for Poels, ten months later he was involved in a horrible pile up in the Tour de France and suffered career threatening injuries. Thankfully he was able to return to racing in 2013, but it’s been a tough season for him, the results of the past have been out of reach but as the season has progressed he’s been closer to his old strength. For now he remains a strong climber, he won the mountainous final stage of the Tour de l’Ain and also finished 28th overall in the Tour de France, a respectable result considering his previous twelve months. With a lot of racing in 2013 followed by a good and healthy break, Poels can look forward to a much stronger 2014, with his natural climbing skills coming to the fore.
Assuming that the verbal commitments are followed up with contractual ones, Janier Acevedo and Wout Poels should be strong support riders for Rigoberto Uran.
Follow @oglalakevVia Flickr:
Foto: ©Luis Barbosa
Related articles
- Transfer Talk: Rigoberto Uran Joins Omega Pharma-Quick Step (procyclingkev.wordpress.com)
The Week in Cycling 
Pingback: Recent Cycling News #1 | The Week in Cycling