Romain Sicard, the world under 23 champion, looks set to ride some of the biggest races in cycling during his first season with the Euskaltel Euskadi team.
Having ridden the Santos Tour Down Under, the 22 year old Frenchman will get things started in Europe with the Tour du Haut Var on February 20th. He’s then scheduled to take part in Paris-Nice, Gent-Wevelgem, Three days of de Panne, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Gran Premio Llodio, Vuelta a Rioja, Vuelta de Asturias, Tour de Picardie, Bayern Rundfahrt, Dauphiné Liberé and the French national championships.
His racing programme from July onwards has not yet been announced, and so it remains to be seen if he will ride a Grand Tour in 2010.
If so, the Tour de France would be a big ask for his first year at this level. The wiser choice would seem to be to put him on the team for the Vuelta a España; there is far less media pressure at the race, and it is not as tough as the Tour.
Sicard was racing with their feeder team Orbea last year, and won both the Subida al Naranco plus the Plateau de Beille mountain stage of the Ronde de l'Isard.
Performances such as these earned him a two-year contract with Euskaltel-Euskadi, with whom he signed on July 10th.
He then rewarded that show of faith in September when he dominated both the Tour de l’Avenir and the under 23 world road race title.
The Euskaltel-Euskadi team normally signs only riders from the Basque region in Spain, although Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez is an exception. Sicard comes from Bayonne in France but this is also considered part of the Basque area, extending as it does across the border.
He is seen as one of the top young talents in cycling, so many will be watching how he performs in the top races this season.