Having won the Irish road race title last year and raced in the paid ranks for the first time this season - a contract secured as he was about to quit the sport - Rory Townsend's move up pro cycling's hierarchy is set to continue next season.
The Irish international, who rode in the breakaway at the World Road Championships in Scotland last month, has now signed a new two year contract at Pro Continental level; and with a team that has already ridden the biggest pro classics and is likely to get a start in a Grand Tour during his time with them.
Townsend, currently riding the Tour of Britain with his trade team Bolton Equities Black Spoke, has put pen to paper with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team. It is a ProConti outfit registered in Switzerland that previously competed as World Tour team NTT Pro Cycling and Dimension Data.
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This year it has ridden Word Tour races like Milan-Sanremo, Strade-Bianche and Tirreno-Adriatico. Given the team's rich history, it is likely to secure an invite to a Grand Tour next year or in 2025, probably the Giro.
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And that means Townsend, who was about to step away from his pro cycling dream last winter in favour of going to college, is now likely to be in the biggest races in the world as early as next spring.
Townsend is the team's third new signing of late, joining Giro stage winner and former European road race champion, Giacomo Nizzolo, and Frederik Frison, a Belgian who has been riding as a domestique with Lotto-Dstny since 2016.
Last year, Townsend's successes included his national title win in Kanturk, Co Cork, in June and a stage win in Rás Tailteann in May. He also won two races in Belgium in August. He scored solo victories in GP Lucien Van Impe and days later in Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde Meulebeke.
This year he has won Trophée Groupama Paris Val de Loire (1.1) in France in March, and taken four top 10 placings, and 4th overall, at International Tour of Hellas (2.1) in May, among a string of top 10 placings in European pro races.
