OFFICIAL: Cofidis sign Spanish champion Alex Aranburu - "Alex will also share leadership in one-day races with Dylan Teuns"

This is a transfer that had already been virtually confirmed for several weeks but it is now announced. After losing Guillaume Martin and Axel Zingle, Cofidis has had some budget to play with for 2025. They are putting it to good use. After the signings of riders such as Emanuel Buchmann and Dylan Teuns, the French outfit now also confirms Alex Aranburu in a three-year deal.

"It is an honour and a source of pride to welcome Alex Aranburu to Cofidis. He is a major new addition to our team, which must find its true place in the world hierarchy," team manager Cédric Vasseur said in a press release. "Alex already has a solid track record and is entering his prime years. We expect a lot from our 2025 squad: Alex will also share leadership in one-day races with Dylan Teuns. Having the Spanish Champion in its ranks is an additional motivation for the whole team and we want to assert ourselves at the highest level."

"Our 2025 team will look great and I warmly thank Cofidis for giving us the means to compete with the best teams in the UCI World Tour with the arrival of all these champions. Alex will find at Cofidis a management and a team with a Spanish accent which will allow him to find his bearings and his full speed very quickly. The whole team is eager to welcome and accompany Alex to new heights!"

The Basque rider is a quality signing for Cofidis, a team looking to score plenty UCI points to remain at World Tour level, but also that has a lot of focus on the hilly one-day races of the French and Spanish calendars. With the departure of Zingle the team needed a quality classics rider with a strong sprint and Aranburu, the reigning Spanish national champion, is a perfect fit. He joins compateriots Ion Izagirre and Jesús Herrada to form the Spanish block of the team.

"I am very happy to join this team. I know that it will be a big change on a personal level and that I will have to adapt," the 28-year old commented. "But I am very happy with the trust that Cofidis has placed in me and I will do everything to live up to it. I have already had responsibilities and it is a pleasure to have new ones. Every year, I try to improve, give my all and win more races. This will be my motivation in every race that I compete in, in the classics as well as in the Grand Tours. I am lucky to join a team where I have friends. And I will try to learn some French before the start of next season!"