Fabien Bacquet to Skil-Shimano

Skil-Shimano has signed a third French rider for next season. Young sprinter Fabien Bacquet put his signature to a two-year deal with the Dutch team. This year, the 20-year-old from Soissons in northern France won the classic Dijon-Auxonne-Dijon, the second stage of the Mi-Août Bretonne and the points classification in the Loire Atlantique, a stage race for young riders. Bacquet also made an important contribution to his club CC Nogent-sur-Oise’s win in the Coupe de France for elite riders without contract.

‘I’m very happy to be joining the professionals in 2007. Skil-Shimano offers the ideal platform and facilities for me to develop as a rider and realise my ambitions,’ says Bacquet.

Team managers Arend Scheppink and Iwan Spekenbrink are delighted with the young Frenchman’s arrival at Skil-Shimano. ‘We will be giving a few promising riders their debuts next season and we are happy that one of them has the specific skills of a sprinter.”