Nairo Quintana, winner of the Tour de France's mountain
and young rider jersey, has renewed his contract for the next two years
with team Movistar.
Spanish website, Bici Ciclismo said that the
23-year-old Colombian confirmed the news yesterday morning ahead
of the Tour of Burgos' opening stage.
"It's what I always wanted," Quintana said. "I have very good
friends that help me to get the wins, the team in general...the
managers, the mechanics, the masseurs, the physiotherapists...It's a
very good structure."
After Burgos, Quintana said that he will race the Tour of Britain, Worlds and Lombardy.
Nibali's rough ride towards Vuelta a España
Giro d'Italia winner, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) crashed yesterday in
Spain's Tour of Burgos and underlined his slow build-up to the Vuelta a
España and World Championships.
"Everybody on the team hit the deck, including me!" he wrote on Twitter. "The good thing is that Simone Ponzi won the stage."
Nibali finished without problems but the incident, however, added to
his rough build up to the Vuelta and Worlds. After winning the Giro
title at the end of May, he took two months off and spent his time
fulfilling sponsorship contracts. At the Tour of Poland,
his comeback race, he finished an hour behind overall winner Pieter
Weening (Orica-GreenEDGE).
"I'm not going to hide it, I expected him to be further along [in
fitness]," team manager, Giuseppe Martinelli told newspaper, La Gazzetta
dello Sport. "He let up too much after the Giro and when he got going
again too much time had already passed."
Martinelli and national coach, Paolo Bettini both said that they
remain confident that Nibali will reach his top form for the Vuelta and
at the end of September, the Worlds.
Nibali at the 2013 Tour of Poland
Beppu returns to Trek
Fumiyuki Beppu will leave team Orica-GreenEDGE and race for Trek next season, the team announced this morning.
"Japan has one of the strongest cycling communities in the world
and in Fumy we have one of the most celebrated Japanese riders in
history," Trek Sports Marketing Manager Simon Thompson said in a
statement. "Fumy is very well known to Trek and we are very
pleased to welcome him back to the Trek family with our exciting new
project."
Beppu raced on Trek bicycles with Discovery Channel from 2005 to
2007 and with RadioShack from 2010 and 2011. Trek, which is taking over
RadioShack-Leopard's WorldTour licence for 2014, did not state the
duration of Beppu's contract.
Lotto signs Boeckmans
Lotto-Belisol announced today that Kris Boeckmans will switch from
Vacansoleil-DCM and join its team for the next two seasons. The Belgian
raced in Lotto's under 23 team as an amateur and improved, this year
sprinting to top tens in the Tour de France.
Last night, the team also announced it signed Belgian amateur and European under 23 champion, Sean De Bie for 2014 and 2015.
