After two years at Team Sky, Basque cyclist Mikel Landa is said to be joining team Movistar in 2018.
Landa won a stage and the mountains competition in the 2017 Giro d'Italia for Team Sky this May and is due to help Chris Froome in the Tour de France this July.
>>> Tour de France route 2017: stages and key climbs
Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport, however, reports that he will work for Movistar instead in 2018. It said that the Spanish WorldTour team and Landa came to an agreement and needed to only confirm it.
UCI rules allow for new contract agreements to only be made on or after August 1. However many teams and riders already agree to a deal and simply announce it when that day comes.
The 27-year-old rode to third overall in the 2015 Giro d'Italia behind team leader Fabio Aru in second and winner Alberto Contador.
Sky signed him from Astana for two years, 2016 and 2017, that winter with the hope that they had finally found a Giro winner. He reportedly earns €1 million a year.
Landa pulled out midway through the 2016 Giro due to stomach problems and this May, crashed with Geraint Thomas on stage nine to Blockhaus due to a parked police motorbike.
However, Landa saved Sky's Giro by winning the stage to Piancavallo and taking home the blue climber's jersey. Last year, he proved a valuable helper in France when Froome raced to his third Tour title.
Sky is expected to give Landa the nod today in its nine-man Tour roster, but that could be the last big race for the two together. He said that he will not race the Vuelta a España if he races the Tour.
Landa is saying "adios" perhaps due to space with Thomas wanting more Grand Tour opportunities or due to the feelings he had in the British super team.
He would fill the shoes of Alejandro Valverde, now 37, at Movistar and provide the team a second option to Nairo Quintana in the Grand Tours. In theory, Landa would lead the team in the 2018 Giro d'Italia.
Sky will instead rally around Froome, who is supposed to extend his contract beyond 2018, and Thomas, who has a contract through 2018.
The Landa move would give Welshman Thomas the sole leadership for the Giro, which Sky still needs to win.
-
-
Fabio Jakobsen takes his first win after life-threatening crash
The Dutch sprinter is back on the top step after his crash with Dylan Groenewegen one year ago
By Alex Ballinger •
-
Tour of Britain 2021 route: Team time trial and Great Orme finish unveiled
This year's race will take the peloton from Cornwall, through Wales, before finishing in Scotland
By Richard Windsor •
-
Ineos Grenadiers end partnership with Castelli in favour of new clothing sponsor
After five successful seasons, the British racing outfit is now parting ways with its Italian clothing partner
By Stefan Abram •
-
Early GC time gaps don't make much difference to eventual Tour de France podium, argues Ineos' Michał Kwiatkowski
The Polish super domestique says the British team were prepared to spend more energy early to keep GC riders safe, but even that can prove insufficient at the Tour de France
By Jonny Long •
-
Luke Rowe explains why he was handed fine on Tour de France stage three
The British rider was fined by commissaries for 'assault, intimidation, insults, threats, improper conduct'
By Cycling Weekly •
-
'This won't be my last season': Alejandro Valverde plans to continue racing next year aged 42
Movistar's evergreen star man does not want to quit racing after the Olympics
By Chris Marshall-Bell •
-
Tom Pidcock returns to road racing at Italian one-day race
The British rider is back racing just three weeks after breaking his collarbone
By Tim Bonville-Ginn •
-
Geraint Thomas: 'You need to be able to do everything well to win the Tour, it's not just about climbing'
The Brit gives his preview of the upcoming French Grand Tour where he will be vying for the yellow jersey
By Jonny Long •
-
Ineos announce their full Tour de France 2021 squad
Here is the eight-man team the British outfit will be taking to the French Grand Tour
By Jonny Long •
-
Rohan Dennis to join Jumbo-Visma from Ineos Grenadiers, reports suggest
The Australian joined the British team two years ago but it looks like he is on his way out
By Chris Marshall-Bell •
