Gianni Moscon will extend contract with Ineos Grenadiers, according to Italian media 

Gianna Moscon has said he will extend his contract with Ineos Grenadiers in 2020, according to Italian media. 

Moscon, who has had a consistent string of controversies during his career, has told cycling website Bicisport he will stay with the British WorldTour season, having been mostly invisible in 2020. 

The 26-year-old Italian is spending his winter farming apples.  

On the upcoming racing season, Moscon said: “But now I don’t want to think about it, otherwise I get distracted. 

“This, right now, is my main occupation and I also need to switch off. I'll think about next season starting from December, at the moment we don't even know when we can start racing or how to set the calendars.”

Moscon said his father has been unwell this year, but is now hopefully through the worst. 

This year Moscon started racing in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in February, then headed to the Tour de la Province and rode the Classics Opening Weekend. 

But he was disqualified from Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne after he was caught on camera throwing a competitors bike out of the way, hitting another rider with it in the process after a crash - the latest in a long list of controversies that includes racially abusing a rider in 2017 and hitting another rider in the 2018 Tour de France. 

Moscon returned to racing after the coronavirus break at Strade Bianche, which he didn’t finish, then raced a series of Italian one-day races but with no notable results.

He ended his season with a 19th-place finish at the Giro dell’Appennino in mid-September. 

During his career, Moscon has come close to winning some of the biggest races, including fifth in Paris-Roubaix, third in the Tour of Flanders, and fourth in the World Championships. 

Ineos is yet to announce Moscon’s new contract officially, as we wait for news on a number of other signings from the squad. 

>>> Former Team Sky coach says concerns about Chris Froome are ‘idiotic’ 

Other Ineos riders yet to announce new contracts for 2020 include Giro d’Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart, former world champion Michał Kwiatkowski, and Filippo Ganna.