Two more riders are to join the newly branded Team Giant-Alpecin from the start of 2015. Caleb Fairly, 27, comes on board, bringing three years of WorldTour racing experience with him. The next rider to bolster the 2015 line-up is young Swede, Fredrik Ludvigsson, stepping up from Development Team Giant-Shimano.



Team Giant-Shimano's Cheng Ji made history as the first Chinese rider at the Tour de France, and he has renewed his contract with the team, seeing him stay for another two seasons.



Ji said of the news: "Firstly I have to say thanks to the team for their long-term support, help and confidence in me. I am very glad to be able to continue working with the staff and riders for the next two years and to continue our cooperation.



"I am really looking forward to the challenges ahead and I hope that I can continue the progression of my career, working hard for the benefit of the team."



American rider Fairly has spent the past two seasons with US outfit, Garmin-Sharp where he has carved out a strong domestique roll for himself. He moves across from 2015 as the team look to strengthen the depth in support for certain races over the course of the season.



"Caleb is a rider we have identified who can work well in our team and with the structured way we work," explained coach Marc Reef (NED). "You have to look at the way a rider will fit into the structure, and we see Caleb as a good support rider for the hilly classics and in stage races, something that is becoming increasingly important for us now."



Fairly added: "I'm really excited to be riding with Team Giant-Alpecin and am grateful for their confidence in me. Since the team began I have been impressed with how they work to develop riders, and for the first time in my career I had more than one option so it gave me the opportunity to look at what I value in a team. Iwan [Spekenbrink - general manager] has developed a well-structured and organised team, and these are very important qualities to me, so I couldn’t be more positive about the opportunity."



Twenty-year-old Ludvigsson takes the step up from the continental ranks of the Development Team to join his older brother, Tobias, after impressing the coaches and staff over the course of this season. He raced with the WorldTour team as a stagiaire in the latter part of the year but will officially join the WorldTour squad from 2015.



A strong all round talent, Ludvigsson's season highlights include fifth overall at Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux (2.2), best young rider at the Circuit des Ardennes (2.2), as well as seventh at Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23.



"Fredrik showed in 2013 and 2014 that he was able to compete at the highest level in the U23 category, having just made the step from junior to elite, directly challenging for the victory in Normandie before winning the Boucle de l’Artois,” explained Team Giant-Shimano coach Dirk Reuling (NED). “These results signalled a strong talent to us and he continued to develop well in 2014 before some issues in the second half of the season. We discovered that he had a complication with an artery in his leg but following a successful operation, and a decent rest period under instructions from the team’s medical experts he can start to work back up to his best. In the future we hope to develop him into a good GC rider as he has these qualities - he time trials well and his climbing is already at a very good level.”



“It was already a real achievement to ride for the Development Team, but now I am stepping up to the highest level and I must thank the team for their faith in me despite the problems I have had this season,” admitted Ludvigsson. "I’m really looking forward to riding with and learning from the team, with some of the best riders in the world. To ride with my brother will also be very nice and I look forward to racing alongside him and all the others in 2015."



Meanwhile, the contracts of Brian Bulgac (NED) and Sea Keong Loh (MAL) have not been renewed and the team wishes them the best of luck with their futures.

