Fumiyuki Beppu will be reunited with the Trek family next year as he has signed a contract to race for the Trek team which will be the successor of the current Radioshack squad. The Japanese has competed on a bike for the American manufacturer twice before and now returns to familiar surrounding after two seasons on the Orica-GreenEdge team.

Fumiyuki Beppu is one of the most famous Japanese riders and has done a huge job to increase cycling's popularity in his home country. Much of the time he has done so aboard a Trek bike and he will be reunited with that brand in the 2014 season.

The Japanese rode for Discovery Channel from 2005 to 2007 and after a few years on the Skil-Shimano team, he was back on a Trek when he raced as part of the Radioshack team from 2010 and 2011. When that team merged with Leopard-Trek, he left the familiar surroundings to join the Orica-GreenEdge team where he has worked as a tireless domestique for two seasons.

From next season, he will be a loyal teammate in the Trek team which will replace the current Radioshack outfit as the American bicycle manufacturer has bought the license from current owner Flavio Becca. He joins the likes of Andy and Frank Schleck, Fabian Cancellara, Markel Irizar and Haimar Zubeldia who have all already signed a contract with the new team.

“I’m very pleased to be a part of the new Trek team," Beppu said. "This new team has a lot of great and experienced riders so I’m very excited to work with them."

Japan is an important market for Trek and so it is important for the team to have a Japanese rider on the roster.

"Japan has one of the strongest cycling communities in the world and in Fumy we have one of the most celebrated Japanese riders in history,"Trek Sports Marketing Manager Simon Thompson said. "Fumy is very well known to Trek and we are very pleased to welcome him back to the Trek family with our exciting new project."

Apart from the Japanese championships, Beppu still hasn't won a race as a professional but he rose to fame when he was one of two riders to become the first Japanese to finish the Tour de France in 2009.