Bakelants to join AG2R-La Mondiale in 2015

Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) will ride for AG2R-La Mondiale next season, according to Belgian Newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws. The French outfit has offered him a free role within the team, something he feels that he lacks at Omega Pharma-QuickStep. The contract is yet to be signed, but the newspaper hints that the deal is expected to be completed imminently.

Bakelants signed a one-year contract with Omega Pharma-QuickStep at the end of last season, but has chosen not to renew with the Belgian outfit. Bakelants joined the team when he found himself without a contract when the Fernando Alonso project broke down. The Belgian rider had agreed a verbal contract with the team, which was set to come from the ashes of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, but when it hit a roadblock he was left without a team.

Bakelants came to prominence last season when he won stage two of the Tour de France and spent a day in yellow. Earlier this season, he won the sixth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné before returning to the Tour de France where he finished 24th in the general classification. Bakelants has since raced the Clásica San Sebastián and will return to racing action at the GP Ouest France – Plouay on August 31.

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