In the same sort of prolonged unveiling as characterised the Leopard Trek team twelve months ago, the new GreenEdge setup is continuing to reveal next year’s riders one by one. The latest signature announced is that of the Lituanian national time trial champion Tomas Vaitkus, who has ridden in the services of Alberto Contador, Lance Armstrong and Alexandre Vinokourov.
The 29 year old rider has competed in recent seasons for Discovery Channel, Astana and RadioShack, and while most of his work has been done in dragging the bunch along in pursuit of breakaway riders, he has also clocked up some strong results of his own right.
Some of those achievements include stage victories in the Giro d’Italia and Tour of Denmark, third overall and a stage win in the Volta ao Algarve, first in the national road race championships and the Ronde van het Groene Hard plus sixth in the Tour of Flanders.
Those results make GreenEdge general manager Shayne Bannan feel he can do more than just tow the bunch along. “Tomas has a massive engine that makes him the ideal worker on any team at any race but he’s more than capable of winning in his own right,” he explained.
“Look at the races he’s won when given the chance. He’s won a stage at the Giro d’Italia and the Tour of Denmark plus multiple national titles in the time trial and on the road.
“And his versatility gives us so many options. He was in the thick of the action right to the end at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix this year, he’s a solid sprinter, can play the role of a lead-out man for our fastest finishers and we all know how strong he is in a time trial.”
He also believes that he is a strong team player in terms of how he relates to others, and will slot in perfectly into the type of setup he is trying to build.
The former under 23 world time trial champion emphasises this same cooperation when confirming his move to the new squad. “I’ve enjoyed seeing the national pride come through at Astana and in the peloton you can see that same sort of pride between the Australian riders, even when they’re on different teams,” he said.
“Bringing a group of Australians together, on the one team, with a bunch of other riders that have a similar attitude will make for a great combination on the road,” Vaitkus said.
Meanwhile the Dutch rider Karsten Kroon looks set to return to the Saxo Bank SunGard team with which he competed between 2006 and 2009. The 35 year old has been part of the BMC Racing Team for the past two seasons but, according to De Telegraaf, he is now heading back to compete under the guidance of Bjarne Riis.
During his time as part of the Danish squad, he won the Rund um den Henninger Turm plus stages in the Vuelta a Castilla y León and the Sachen Tour. However it was his performances in the hilly Classics which attracted most attention; he was second in the Amstel Gold Race, third in the Flèche Wallonne, fourth in both the Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, plus fifth in Brabantse Pijl and the Giro di Lombardia.
His performances were more muted at the BMC Racing Team and he will hope to turn back the clock with his move.