The 2011 season for the cycling team began in January at the Tour Down Under and ended in November at the Amstel Curaçao Race. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour; Vacansoleil-DCM became a ProTeam for the first time ahead of the 2011 season. Improving upon 14 victories in the 2010 season, Vacansoleil-DCM managed 22 victories during the season. Having previously been invited to the 2009 Vuelta a España, Vacansoleil-DCM contested the other Grand Tour events – the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France – for the first time. Despite rumours that the team faced exclusion to the doping scandals involving team members Riccardo Riccò and Ezequiel Mosquera, they were included pursuant to UCI rules. The team rarely featured in the Giro, while the team was more successful at the Tour de France. Johnny Hoogerland held the lead of the mountains classification on two occasions, while Romain Feillu finished in the top five on four stages during the first half of the race. Hoogerland also made headlines when he and 's Juan Antonio Flecha were sideswiped by a car while they rode in a breakaway. Outside of the Grand Tours, Thomas De Gendt took World Tour stage victories at Paris–Nice and the Tour de Suisse, with Borut Božič also taking a stage win in Switzerland. The team were also successful in single-day races, with six different riders all achieving a victory. Despite all the victories, the team finished last in the UCI World Tour rankings, since the majority of their victories came during UCI Europe Tour races. ProTeams, though eligible to participate in the races, were not eligible to earn points toward the Europe Tour ranking (just as Professional Continental teams could not earn points toward the World Tour ranking). 2011 roster Ages as of January 1, 2011. Riders who joined the team for the 2011 season Riders who left the team during or after the 2010 season One-day races Spring classics The team started the single-day season with a third-place finish for Feillu at the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise in January, and first-year professional Ligthart taking a similar placing in February's Clásica de Almería. In March, Westra took his first victory since the 2009 Tour de Picardie, by winning the Classic Loire Atlantique, in France. After creating a four-man breakaway with Anthony