Ryan Anderson joins Direct Energie, doubling the squad’s Canadians

Canadian Ryan Anderson has signed with Pro Continental team Direct Energie, once Europcar, after three years with Optum. Anderson increases Direct Energie’s Canadian content by 100%, joining Antoine Duchesne, who rode his first Grand Tour with Europcar in 2015, finishing 138th on GC.

At the moment the Canadian duo are the only non-Frenchmen on the team.

The squad lost a little depth due to the uncertainty of continuing after the French car rental company announced it would no longer sponsor the team after 2015. Pierre Rolland signed with Cannondale and Cyril Gautier headed to Ag2r. Even after Direct Energie came aboard as title sponsor in September, there was a licensing delay, with the team only officially being granted Pro Continental status on Thursday.

Although the team only had WorldTour status for one year, it has gone to the last six Paris-Nice races and the last five editions of the Tour de France.

It’s expected that Anderson and another new fellow, Adrien Petit from Cofidis, will be part of the train of Bryan Coquard, who took four of Europcar’s nine wins in 2015.