Rafa Valls Ferri

Vacansoleil DCM has long been enamoured with the Spaniard, in whom they see one of the major talents of the moment. Rafael Valls-Ferri demonstrated these qualities especially well in 2010, not only because he won a stage and finished third in the General Classification of the Tour de San Luis, but also because he was close to a stage victory in a mountain stage in the Tour de France. He eventually came second, but established his name internationally. In the spring of 2012 he made a big crash and this forced him to chase his form for the rest of the season. The 25 year-old rider from the East of Spain did complete the Tour de France (41st) in the meantime, and rode half of the Vuelta a Espana as an investment for 2013. From the Tour Down Under onwards, this motivated flyer wants to bring his team visibility and points.