Etixx - Quick-Step has reached agreements with Colombian riders Rodrigo Contreras and Fernando Gaviria. Both riders reached two-year agreements (2016-2017).
Contreras. 20, was 5th in the GC at Tour de San Luis earlier this season, and also was the Best Young Rider. Contreras won the gold medal in the U23 Men's Individual Time Trial event of the 2014 UCI Pan American Continental Road Championships.
"I am over the moon to have this opportunity," Contreras said. "It's one of the best teams in the world and I am really looking forward to riding for this team. I am a climber, but I also love the time trial discipline. My idol is Rigoberto Uran, who races for this team, so to come here and learn from guys like him is really a dream come true."
Fernando Gaviria, also 20, won two sprint stages at Tour de San Luis. He most recently won the men's omnium at the UCI Track World Championship. The Colombian sprinter also won the U23 Men's Road Race event of the 2014 UCI Pan American Continental Road Championships.
"I am really looking forward to joining this team," Gaviria said. "This was my first choice. I love this team and have followed them since I was a kid. I have strong admiration for Mark Cavendish. At Tour de San Luis I was constantly watching him, trying to understand his movements and learn as much as I can from him. For me it is super to join a team that is so skilled in the sprints, and provides a good structure for me to do my job and get better at my job. For me it is a question of learning a lot with Etixx - Quick-Step, and to me this is the best team to learn from and also be able to do my job as best I can."
Both riders underwent evaluations at Bakala Academy this morning.
"We are satisfied about this agreement because we were following both these riders for the past year," Etixx - Quick-Step CEO Patrick Lefevere said. "It was nice to finally sit down with them and talk with them personally. I think they are good guys. They are motivated, but are also quality riders as you can see with the recent performance of Contreras at Tour de San Luis, and with Gaviria winning the omnium at Track Worlds. Concerning Gaviria, there is a possibility for him to ride with the team as a stagiaire this season, but we will decide later. We also talked a lot about his desire to participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics on the track. We respect and support his decision. Next year Fernando will have a program that will allow him to be in the best condition for the Olympics, while also participating in road racing."