Being the natural springboard for Australian talents, Drapac have signed two young riders for the 2015 season. Timothy Roe will return to the professional level after a successful domestic season while Samuel Spokes will make his professional debut with the Australian team.

Drapac Professional Cycling is pleased to announce that Tim Roe and Sam Spokes will join the squad from 2015.

Roe, 25, spent two years racing at WorldTour level before his burgeoning career was stalled by injury but the South Australian climbing specialist bounced back in 2014 to finish second in the highly competitive Australian National Road Series (NRS).

“My goal this year was to have a consistent season and I was happy to finish second in the NRS,” said Roe. “I wanted to be good in all of the races and I felt strong throughout. I’m definitely at a level now where I am ready to return to a higher level.

“Drapac has got a really good race program – I definitely see it as a step up.”

Roe’s palmares includes 2nd overall at the Thüringen Rundfahrt U23 (2010), as well as top-10 results at the Australian Individual Time Trial Championships (2013) and the Olympia’s Tour (2010).

Spokes is one of the top up-and-coming Australian talents and although he’s just 22, the rouleur has already spent several seasons racing in Europe and has represented the National Under-23 team at the last two UCI World Championships.

“After four years in Europe full-time, I’m looking forward to a change of scenery,” Spokes explained. “I still hope to spend some time in Lucca, Italy, training. It will also be nice to spend more time with family and friends back in Australia.

“From an outsider looking in, it seems that Drapac has a really good atmosphere as a team and that’s something I really like – where your teammates can also be great friends.”

This year, Spokes repeated his sixth placed performance at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege while his impressive results in stage races continued, taking out the General Classification at Course de la Paix, adding to previous victories at the Vysocina Tour (2013), Tour de l’Eure et Loire (2012) and Liege – La Gleize Juniors (2010).

Roe and Spokes join Dutchman Peter Koning and fellow Australian Brenton Jones as new-comers to the UCI Professional Continental team which has ridden to 16 victories this season.

Drapac General Manager Jonathan Breekveldt said that the latest additions to the team were set to make valuable contributions to the squad in 2015.

“Tim and Sam bring a mix of youth and experience to Drapac Professional Cycling for 2015 and both will equally exciting to work with,” he explained.

“Tim achieved his performance goals for 2014 and we can provide the next logical step toward his ambitions of returning to the WorldTour. His strengths and experience make him a key GC rider for the team in our 2015 race schedule.

“Sam is an exciting young talent who has significant development potential and will thrive in both his new team and racing environment for at least the next two seasons.”