Oakland, CA – The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team announced today, Monday, September 5, 2011, that former Team member and current Quick Step rider, Marc de Maar, will officially rejoin Team UnitedHealthcare and will race with the Team for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Currently in Spain racing in the Vuelta de Espana for Quick Step, de Maar spoke about the decision.

“I am very happy to be rejoining the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team,” said an elated de Maar. “Since I left the Team in 2010, Mike (Tamayo), Rory (Sutherland) and I stayed in touch on and off. Team UnitedHealthcare is world class in everything they do. I had a great experience with them when I was a member and I knew that one day I would rejoin them. I am looking forward to the next two years and being part of their cycling family again. Plus, I really miss those US oatmeal raisin cookies!”

The six foot (1.82m), 150 lbs (68kg) deMaar continued, “The reason I left (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team) last year was simply because I wanted to be part of the European peloton. Right now, I’m racing in the Vuelta for Quick Step and after somewhat of a rough start, things are starting to come together. I was close to a stage win a few days ago and I’m going to keep racing hard and try to win a stage as a tribute to my team with Quick Step in the final week of the Vuelta. My experience with Quick Step has been great and I will continue to work hard to finish the season strong.”

Speaking about the decision to bring de Maar, the 2011 Curacao National Road Race and Time Trial Champion, back, General Manager and Directeur Sportif, Mike Tamayo, stated, “We are very excited to have Marc back as part of our family. He is a true professional and a perfect fit for our Team, especially with his great attitude and his style of racing. We know we can get a lot out of him and motivate him to some victories.”

The de Maar announcement comes on the heels of the Team’s recent decision to appoint Hendrik Redant to the position of European Team Director, who joined the Team for the first time last week at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.

Team President and Co-Owner, Thierry Attias, also spoke about the decision to bring de Maar back. “Marc is a tremendous individual and we are very excited about this,” said Attias. “Our goal is to continue to grow and build this Team in a smart and strategic manner and keep making smart decisions when it comes to the riders and staff we hire. This has been a very good year for the Team and our sponsors. We have full confidence in the direction we are headed under Mike’s (Tamayo) leadership from a sporting perspective and decisions like this reinforce the focus we have in getting the best riders and staff for this unit and steadily building on its success.”