Roger Hammond is set to sign for the Cervélo TestTeam, where he will join current Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre and Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd.
The 34-year-old is riding the Tour of Britain for Team Columbia this week but the American squad yesterday named its 2009 roster and Hammond is not on it, which appears to confirm the strongly-rumoured move to Cervélo.
He is likely to confirm the transfer in the next few days and is set to join fellow Brits Dan Lloyd and Dan Fleeman, who Cycling Weekly understands will be switching from the Irish An Post team to Cervélo for 2009.
Bradley Wiggins is also moving from Team Columbia, to join David Millar at Garmin-Chipotle.
Hammond, who will turn 35 in January, will be a key player in the spring Classics for the team. He has been on the podium at both Paris-Roubaix and Ghent-Wevelgem in the past and could still win one of the big cobbled Classics.
It will be his 12th full season as a professional, testimony to his status as one of hardest-working and most respected riders in the peloton.
HAMMOND'S TEAMS
1996 - Rode the final month of the season as a stagiaire with Collstrop
1997 - Rode the final month of the season as a stagiaire with Palmans
1998 - Palmans-Ideal
1999 - Palmans-Ideal
2000 - Collstrop
2001 - Collstrop-Palmans
2002 - Palmans-Collstrop
2003 - Palmans-Collstrop
2004 - Mrbookmaker.com
2005 - Discovery Channel
2006 - Discovery Channel
2007 - T-Mobile
2008 - High Road / Team Columbia
BRITS ON THE MOVE
Confirmed moves
Jonny Bellis ? Great Britain Acadamy to Saxo Bank (currently CSC)
Charly Wegelius ? Liquigas to Silence-Lotto
Bradley Wiggins ? Team Columbia to Garmin-Chipotle
Very likely
Dan Fleeman ? An Post to Cervélo TestTeam
Roger Hammond ? Team Columbia to Cervélo TestTeam
Dan Lloyd ? An Post to Cervélo TestTeam
Rumoured
Ben Swift ? Great Britain Academy to Katusha
Unconfirmed
Jeremy Hunt ? looking for a team as Crédit Agricole is ending
Staying put
Mark Cavendish ? Team Columbia
Steve Cummings ? Barloworld
Chris Froome ? Barloworld
David Millar ? Garmin-Chipotle
Geraint Thomas ? Barloworld
Retiring
Paul Manning
