# 2010 Vacansoleil season

2010 Vacansoleil season :
| Manager | Hilaire Van Der Schueren |
| One-day victories | 5 |
| Stage race overall victories | 2 |
| Stage race stage victories | 7 |
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The 2010 season for the Vacansoleil cycling team began in January with the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise. As they did in their inaugural season in 2009, the team competes in 2010 as a UCI Professional Continental team with wildcard status, meaning they are eligible to be invited to any UCI ProTour event. The team's manager is Hilaire Van Der Schueren.
The team's biggest acquisitions for the 2010 season are Feillu brothers, both of them minor stars from a recent Tour de France while riding for Agritubel. Romain, the elder, wore the yellow jersey for a day in 2008, while younger brother Brice won a stage in 2009.

## 2010 roster

Ages as of January 1, 2010
| | Rider | Date of birth |
| Borut Božič (SLO) | Borut Božič (SLO) | (1980-08-08)August 8, 1980 (aged 29) |
| Matteo Carrara (ITA) | Matteo Carrara (ITA) | (1979-03-25)March 25, 1979 (aged 30) |
| Brice Feillu (FRA) | Brice Feillu (FRA) | (1985-07-26)July 26, 1985 (aged 24) |
| Romain Feillu (FRA) | Romain Feillu (FRA) | (1984-04-06)April 6, 1984 (aged 25) |
| Gorik Gardeyn (BEL) | Gorik Gardeyn (BEL) | (1980-03-17)March 17, 1980 (aged 29) |
| Michał Gołaś (POL) | Michał Gołaś (POL) | (1985-04-29)April 29, 1985 (aged 24) |
| Johnny Hoogerland (NED) | Johnny Hoogerland (NED) | (1983-05-13)May 13, 1983 (aged 26) |
| Sergey Lagutin (UZB) | Sergey Lagutin (UZB) | (1981-01-14)January 14, 1981 (aged 28) |
| Bjorn Leukemans (BEL) | Bjorn Leukemans (BEL) | (1977-07-01)July 1, 1977 (aged 32) |
| Marco Marcato (ITA) | Marco Marcato (ITA) | (1984-02-11)February 11, 1984 (aged 25) |
| Wouter Mol (NED) | Wouter Mol (NED) | (1982-04-17)April 17, 1982 (aged 27) |
| | Rider | Date of birth |
| Jens Mouris (NED) | Jens Mouris (NED) | (1980-03-12)March 12, 1980 (aged 29) |
| Martin Mortensen (DEN) | Martin Mortensen (DEN) | (1984-11-05)November 5, 1984 (aged 25) |
| Alberto Ongarato (ITA) | Alberto Ongarato (ITA) | (1975-07-24)July 24, 1975 (aged 34) |
| Wout Poels (NED) | Wout Poels (NED) | (1987-10-01)October 1, 1987 (aged 22) |
| Matthé Pronk (NED) | Matthé Pronk (NED) | (1974-07-01)July 1, 1974 (aged 35) |
| Stéphane Rossetto (FRA) | Stéphane Rossetto (FRA) | (1987-04-06) April 6, 1987 (age 37) |
| Rob Ruijgh (NED) | Rob Ruijgh (NED) | (1986-12-12)December 12, 1986 (aged 23) |
| Bobbie Traksel (NED) | Bobbie Traksel (NED) | (1981-11-03)November 3, 1981 (aged 28) |
| Arnoud van Groen (NED) | Arnoud van Groen (NED) | (1983-12-11)December 11, 1983 (aged 26) |
| Joost van Leijen (NED) | Joost van Leijen (NED) | (1984-07-20)July 20, 1984 (aged 25) |
| Frederik Veuchelen (BEL) | Frederik Veuchelen (BEL) | (1978-09-04)September 4, 1978 (aged 31) |
| Lieuwe Westra (NED) | Lieuwe Westra (NED) | (1982-09-11)September 11, 1982 (aged 27) |
| Rider | 2009 team |
| Brice Feillu | Agritubel |
| Romain Feillu | Agritubel |
| Gorik Gardeyn | Silence–Lotto |
| Michał Gołaś | Amica Chips–Knauf |
| Alberto Ongarato | LPR Brakes–Farnese Vini |
| Stéphane Rossetto | neo-pro |
| Rob Ruijgh | stagiaire (Vacansoleil) |
| Joost van Leijen | Van Vliet-EBH-Elshof |
| Rider | 2010 team |
| Baden Cooke | Team Saxo Bank |
| Wim De Vocht | Team Milram |
| Reinier Honig | Acqua & Sapone |
| Clément L'hôtellerie | Roubaix–Lille Métropole |
| Gerben Löwik | Omega Pharma–Lotto |
| Thijs van Amerongen | Free agent |
| Aart Vierhouten | Retired |

## One-day races
### Spring classics

The team opened its season at the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise. The squad for this event was chosen in December; Hoogerland was the leader, trying to improve upon a fifth-place finish in this race in 2009. Westra figured into the morning's breakaway, along with Jussi Veikkanen and Julien El Fares, and nearly managed to stay away, being caught with only a few kilometers left in the race's final climb. A selection was made among the 85-strong peloton that had caught Westra and Veikkanen, with six, including Hoogerland, contesting an uphill sprint finish. Hoogerland finished second behind Saur–Sojasun's Jonathan Hivert. Traksel won Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, on the first weekend of the traditional spring classics season, in brutally bad weather. Of the 198 riders who began the race, just 26 finished, as the rain and the cold combined with the hilly parcours to make for what was called the most difficult day of racing in the last seven years. Traksel outsprinted two breakaway companions, Ian Stannard and Rick Flens, for the win. Vacansoleil had had van Groen in first position on the road when Traksel made his eventually race-winning attack. Van Der Schueren told Traksel to drop back, yet the stocky Dutchman continued to ride away. Though happy to have won, he referred to the attack as "stupid" when asked after the race.
The team also raced Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Clásica de Almería.

### Fall races
## Stage races

Vacansoleil's first stage race of the season was the Étoile de Bessèges. The first stage ended in a mass sprint, won by Božič after the team overpowered Française des Jeux' leadout train. Božič followed it up with a similar win the next day. In February, Mol won the Tour of Qatar overall by figuring into a crucial stage 2 breakaway. He did not win any stage.
The team also sent squads to the Tour of Oman, the Tour Méditerranéen, the Volta ao Algarve, and the Ruta Del Sol.

## Grand Tours

The team did not receive invitations to either the Giro d'Italia or the Tour de France, despite the fact that both start in the Netherlands. It remains to be seen whether they will be invited to the Vuelta a España.

## Season victories

| Date | Race | Competition | Rider | Country | Location |
| February 3 | Étoile de Bessèges, Stage 1 | UCI Europe Tour | Borut Božič (SLO) | France | Le Grau-du-Roi |
| February 4 | Étoile de Bessèges, Stage 2 | UCI Europe Tour | Borut Božič (SLO) | France | St. Ambroix |
| February 7 | Étoile de Bessèges, Points classification | UCI Europe Tour | Borut Božič (SLO) | France | |
| February 12 | Tour of Qatar, Overall | UCI Asia Tour | Wouter Mol (NED) | Qatar | |
| February 25 | Ruta Del Sol, Mountains classification | UCI Europe Tour | Brice Feillu (FRA) | Spain | |
| February 28 | Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne | UCI Europe Tour | Bobbie Traksel (NED) | Belgium | Kuurne |
| March 21 | Ronde van het Groene Hart | UCI Europe Tour | Jens Mouris (NED) | Netherlands | Zoetermeer |
| April 1 | Three Days of De Panne, Teams classification | UCI Europe Tour | | Belgium | |
| April 10 | Ronde van Drenthe | UCI Europe Tour | Alberto Ongarato (ITA) | Netherlands | Hoogeveen |
| June 6 | Tour de Luxembourg, Overall classification | UCI Europe Tour | Matteo Carrara (ITA) | Luxembourg | |
| August 7 | Tour de Pologne, Mountains classification | UCI World Ranking | Johnny Hoogerland (NED) | Poland | |
| August 7 | Tour de Pologne, Sprints classification | UCI World Ranking | Johnny Hoogerland (NED) | Poland | |
| August 7 | Vuelta a Burgos, Stage 4 | UCI Europe Tour | Romain Feillu (FRA) | Spain | Salas de los Infantes |
| August 12 | Tour de l'Ain, Stage 2 | UCI Europe Tour | Romain Feillu (FRA) | France | Trévoux |
| August 14 | Tour de l'Ain, Stage 4 | UCI Europe Tour | Wout Poels (NED) | France | Belley |
| August 14 | Tour de l'Ain, Points classification | UCI Europe Tour | Romain Feillu (FRA) | France | |
| August 25 | Druivenkoers Overijse | UCI Europe Tour | Björn Leukemans (BEL) | Belgium | Overijse |
| September 12 | Grand Prix de Fourmies | UCI Europe Tour | Romain Feillu (FRA) | France | Fourmies |
| September 14 | Tour of Britain, Stage 4 | UCI Europe Tour | Wout Poels (NED) | Great Britain | Teignmouth |
| September 17 | Tour of Britain, Stage 7 | UCI Europe Tour | Borut Božič (SLO) | Great Britain | Colchester |
| September 18 | Tour of Britain, Sprints classification | UCI Europe Tour | Michał Gołaś (POL) | Great Britain | |
| September 18 | Tour of Britain, Mountains classification | UCI Europe Tour | Johnny Hoogerland (NED) | Great Britain | |
| September 18 | Tour of Britain, Teams classification | UCI Europe Tour | | Great Britain | |

## Footnotes

* ↑ The riders on the squad were Lieuwe Westra, Romain Feillu, Matthé Pronk, Jens Mouris, Gorik Gardeyn, Bobbie Traksel, Alberto Ongarato, and Borut Božič
* ↑ The riders on the squad were Borut Božič, Michał Gołaś, Johnny Hoogerland, Pim Ligthart, Matteo Carrara, and Wout Poels