A few days after the signing of Peter Velits, BMC has taken another climber onboard for the coming season. Peter Stetina (Garmin-Sharp) will join forces with the likes of Tejay van Garderen and Cadel Evans next season as BMC is looking to bolster its squad for the mountains.

BMC is clearly in a process of strengthening its stage race squad for the coming season. The team has long been criticized for being unable to provide the likes of Tejay van Garderen and Cadel Evans the required support in the high mountains and now the team appears to have a plan of shutting the mouths of the critics.

On the back of last week's signing of Peter Velits, the team has announced that it has also signed young American climber Peter Stetina. Having been raised through its feeder team, he 26-year old turned professional with Garmin-Sharp in 2010 and since then has gradually developed into a hugely reliable climber.

He still hasn't won a professional bike race himself but has performed well in the mountainous American stage races, finishing 9th in the US Pro Challenge last year and 11th in the Tour of California in his debut season. This year he was poised for a top result in the Volta a Catalunya but sacrificed his own chances when teammate Daniel Martin took the leader's jersey.

He has mostly settled into a domestique role and was instrumental in Ryder Hesjedal's Giro win last season. Most recently, he was the rider who blew the peloton apart on Empire Pass on the final stage of the Tour of Utah, thus setting up the race-winning attack from teammate Tom Danielson.

"BMC is notorious for having the top equipment and the team for its top support, plus it was a chance to reunite with my good friends, Taylor Phinney and Tejay van Garderen," he said. "I also worked a lot with (BMC Racing Team Performance Manager) Allan Peiper last year and I really respect him. He was a big draw in coming. All the stars aligned, really."

Stetina hopes to both get the chance to chase personal success and work as a key domestique for his team leaders in the grand tours.

"I would really like to take my own chance in some smaller, one-week stage races," he said. "So I would champion my own cause in those races and be a top mountain domestique in the biggest ones, especially the Tour de France. I would really like to ride the Tour next year for the first time."

General manager Jim Ochowicz looks forward to bringing Stetina onto the team for the mountainous races.

"Pete comes from a family of past and present cyclists and brings with him a nice balance of experience in the many stage races and grand tours that he has participated in over the years," he said. "He has acted as a top support rider in the mountain stages where his teams have found success. We expect the same here at the BMC Racing Team and are eager to start our work together."

Stetina is currently preparing himself for the Vuelta a Espana where he could get a chance to see how far he can get on GC. The specific terms of his contract haven't been released.