Team Giant-Shimano is known for its commitment to the development of young talents. Today they have signed Zico Waeytens who is expected to shine in both the Flemish and hilly classics in the future.

Team Giant-Shimano is happy to announce the addition of  Zico Waeytens to the WorldTour team from 2015, with the Belgian rider signing for two years.

Waeytens, 22, has built his career racing for the ProContinental Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise team for the past three seasons now, proving his talents in the classics and also as a GC rider.

His strongest results to date are fifth overall in the 2014 Tour de Wallonie and third overall at the 2013 Tour des Fjords. He has also showed strongly this season in the classics with a 15th place at Omloop het Nieuwsblad and 35th at the Tour of Flanders.

Team Giant-Shimano coach Marc Reef said: "Zico is a young rider who has already shown that he can get results in the Flemish classics. We were looking for a rider to join the team in this capacity and we believe that he is a very good fit.

"He has had some bad luck with injury in the past few seasons but when he's been fit he has got the results to show what he's capable of. He can ride the hilly classics and also ride for GC results. Working under the guidance of the team and learning from the experience of other riders he can continue to develop and progress."

"I am really glad to get this opportunity with the team and I see the great team spirit at Team Giant-Shimano and can't wait to be a part of it," said Waeytens. "I really want to make the next step in my development and I think that I can do this best here. With the environment they have created for young riders, and the race program they have, the team offers the best opportunity to progress. I would like to bring value to the table, especially in the Flemish spring classics and put behind me some bad luck with crashes in the past few seasons."