For some weeks we have been reporting on the future of Pablo Castrillo. His signing with INEOS Grenadiers has been taken for granted on several occasions because he has been in advanced talks with the British team for some time, but the British journalist and market specialist Daniel Benson has recently published that the deal is not yet closed and has revealed the other two teams that are still in the fight for the winner of 2 stages in the last Vuelta a Espana;
These two teams, which we have also known for weeks that they are in talks with the talented Kern Pharma rider, are Movistar Team and Astana Qazaqstan Team. Cofidis and Red Bull BORA were also reported to be interested, but have already dropped out of the fight;
Carsten Jeppesen, INEOS' director of performance and operations, is in charge of the team's signings this year and has reportedly met with Castrillo's agents on more than one occasion and will continue to do so in the coming days. As Benson says, Movistar and Astana "would be more desperate" than the British team to sign him, although given the results of one of the WorldTour's biggest budget teams, it's hard to agree with that idea;
It is expected that the contract signed by the talented climber from Jaca will be for 3 years. In the same information Benson talks about Urko Berrade, Castrillo's teammate in Kern Pharma and also a stage winner in the last Vuelta a Espana, as another option for Movistar Team and considers the renewal for one more year of Nairo Quintana for Movistar Team.
The truth is that if the rumors continue to arrive it is clear that, for whatever reason, Castrillo has not yet closed his incorporation to an INEOS that, as we say, is going through its worst moment in lustrums and is in great need of new talent to achieve better results.