BMC Racing has announced the signing of Australian climber Tim Roe; the 20-year-old is the second young rider to join from the under-23 Trek-Livestrong team this week, after American Taylor Phinney. He also joins his compatriot, 2009 World champion in the expanding US/Swiss team, which has applied for a license to join the ProTour in 2011.
"The way the team is growing bigger and bigger every year is exciting," said Roe. "Already it is one of the best teams in the world. It's going to be fantastic to be able to race alongside Cadel and help him out."
This season, the young Australian rode the Tour Down Under, as part of the Australian selection, finishing fourth in the mountains classification, having worn the jersey for two days; he was then sixth in the under-23 Thüringen-Rundfahrt in June. Earlier in the month he was riding the Tour de l’Avenir in France, again for Australia, when he crashed on stage 3, at the same time as Phinney. While the American soldiered on to the end of the stage only to quit the race later on, Roe was forced to abandon there and then, which turned out to be a double blow.
"I was set for a good ride and felt good, but I ended up on the ground there," said Roe. "Unfortunately, that ruined my hopes of competing in the World Championships."
As well as Roe and Phinney, BMC Racing has also hired 21-year-old Belgian Yannick Eijssen, who won stage 3 of the Tour de l’Avenir and led the race for three days; these new riders are part of the team’s plans for future development.
"Tim is one of the rising young stars of the future," said BMC Racing’s team president Jim Ochowicz. "He'll fit comfortably with the other neo-pros we've signed."
Development, rather than results, is what the team will be expecting, as director sportif Jean Lelangue explained.
"They'll ride without any pressure next season," he said. "We will put Tim and Yannick in the one-week stage races where they can learn from our leaders. The results will come in two or three years for those three guys."