Houle signs with AG2R-La Mondiale

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AG2R-La Mondiale today announced the signing of Canadian Hugo Houle, 22. He is the latest rider from the Spidertech team to find a replacement team for the 2013 season after the Pro Continental squad announced it would not exist in the coming season.

Houle has been the Canadian U23 time trial champion for three years in a row, and was fourth in the U23 road race world championship in Valkenburg in September.

It will be a WorldTour debut for Houle, who was set to race with Spidertech for the third year of his professional career, until the team decided to stop when it failed to secure a co-title sponsor.

Spidertech eased the transition of its riders by providing their full contracted salaries for 2013.

So far, three of the riders have gone to the Cannondale team: Brian Vandborg, David Boily and Guillaume Bovin; Timmy Duggan has signed with Saxo Bank, Ryan Anderson and Ryan Roth with Champion System and François Parisien with Argos-Shimano.