TT1 signs Fortin, re-signs Reijnen

Team Type 1-Sanofi has confirmed three more riders for its 2012 roster: American Kiel Reijnen, Italian Filippo Fortin and Julien El Fares.

El Fares, comes from Cofidis along with Remy Cusin, adding more French talent to the team to please its Paris-based title sponsor Sanofi.

"Julien brings a wealth of stage racing experience to us, especially from such a young rider. Two Tours de France, a Vuelta, the Dauphine, Paris-Nice, Romandie, Tirreno-Adriatico where he wore the leader's jersey and won the points classification, [Tour] Down Under, you name it. With Julien we see an opportunity to build on his results and build for the future," said team manager Vassili Davidenko.

Reijnen continues with the team after having a bad start to the season because of an illness. "He has made a dramatic improvement over the summer and we're pleased to say he'll likely return to the peloton by the end of this season," said Davidenko. "He's a highly motivated, very intelligent young man who has overcome the aftereffects of an undiagnosed virus and we're glad he's coming back to us."

Filippo Fortin comes from the Trevigiani Dynamon Bottoli U23 squad, and rode as a trainee for the Androni Giocattoli team in August.

"Filippo won eight races in 2011, and has the kind of fast finish that really stands out among riders. We see a talented young rider with great potential in Filippo, and we are certain he will rise to the podium with Team Type 1 - Sanofi in 2012," Davidenko said.