Soudal-Quickstep announced the signing of 23-year-old Valentin Paret-Peintre, who won a stage of the Giro d'Italia with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale this year, on a two-year contract.
Paret-Peintre impressed with his solo victory on stage 10 of the Giro when he rode away from more seasoned climbers like Romain Bardet and Jan Tratnik on the 18-kilometre-long Bocca della Selva finishing climb. There were rumours at the end of the Giro that Quickstep were interested in signing him.
He also showed promise as a general classification rider with fourth in the Tour of the Alps and a top 10 in the Tour Down Under this season.
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"I'm very happy to join the team for the next two years," Paret-Peintre said. "I've always admired this team and watched it write history in some of the biggest races in the world. I remember Tom Boonen winning Paris-Roubaix numerous times in this jersey or Philippe Gilbert taking those memorable victories in Roubaix and De Ronde. It's a legendary team with a lot of history and tradition and I'm proud that I will be part of it in the next two seasons."
The 23-year-old is on track to join the team backing Remco Evenepoel in the Grand Tours after the team loses Jan Hirt to Israel-Premier Tech next season.
"My goal is to continue to develop and gain experience in stage races, especially from someone like Mikel Landa. I'm also ready to help whenever I will be needed on the climbs. I would like to be one of the strongest guys in the mountains for my team in a race like the Tour de France, which I would like to discover, but I'm also aiming for a top ten in week-long stage races."
Paret-Peintre joins newcomers Ethan Hayter, who joins from Ineos, Max Schachmann who is transferring from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Dries Van Gestel from TotalEnergies and Pascal Eenkhoorn from Lotto Dstny.
Team manager Patrick Lefevere was pleased to sign the Frenchman. "We've been following Valentin for some time and we were impressed by his work ethic, continuous improvement and results, such as his spectacular Giro d'Italia stage victory. We are happy he has decided to join us. Valentin is a strong addition to our climbers' contingent and we are confident he will fit right in and grow in our team."
