François Parisien steps up to the WorldTour
All-rounder is a candidate to race Grand Tours and Spring Classics
Canada’s François Parisien just stepped closer to his dream of competing in a Grand Tour after his new team Argos-Shimano was granted the ProTeam licence that it requested from the International Cycling Union (UCI).
The Quebec all-rounder will be one of 27 riders on Argos-Shimano selected to compete in some of the biggest races in the world including the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, Vuelta a España and other stage races such as Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, Tour of Romandie and Critérium du Dauphiné. Other notable events that he might race in include Spring Classics such as Paris-Roubaix, Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders and Amstel Gold.
Argos-Shimano competed under a professional continental licence last season. The team acquired ProTeam status after applying for the upgrade several months ago. The new licence allows the team to compete in all WorldTour events including the three Grand Tours.
Parisien was added to the roster at the end of October. He was originally contracted to compete with the Canadian professional continental team SpiderTech powered by C10; however, the team announced that it would not participate in the 2013 season in order to focus on gaining a ProTeam licence in 2014.
Parisien’s 2012 season highlights include winning the Tour of Elk Grove, placing fourth at Tre Valli Varesine and 10th at Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec.
Other members of the Argos-Shimano men’s team include Jonas Ahlstrand (SWE), Nikias Arndt (GER), Bert de Backer (BEL), Warren Barguil (FRA), Will Clarke (AUS), Roy Curvers (NED), Thomas Damuseau (FRA), John Degenkolb (GER), Tom Dumoulin (NED), Johannes Fröhlinger (GER), Simon Geschke (GER), Patrick Gretsch (GER), Yann Huguet (FRA), Thierry Hupond (FRA), Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA), Cheng Ji (CHN), Marcel Kittel (GER), Koen de Kort (NED), Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE), Luka Mezgec (SVN), Tom Peterson (USA), Georg Preidler (GER), Ramon Sinkeldam (NED), Matthieu Sprick, Tom Stamsnijder (NED), Albert Timmer (NED) and Tom Veelers (NED).
The women’s team includes Charlotte Becker (GER), Lucy Garner (GBR), Marlen Jöhrend (GER), Janneke Kanis (NED), Willeke Knol (NED), Kelly Markus (NED), Amy Pieters (NED), Esra Tromp (NED) and Kirsten Wild (NED).
