OFFICIAL: World Tour riders from EF Education-EasyPost and Lotto-Intermarche among four new signings for emerging ProTeam as they target Giro d'Italia
Cycling
ProTeam MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort enjoyed a successful 2026 season as the Hungarian-based outfit secured a 29th place finish in the UCI team rankings - paving the way to a potential invite to the 2027 Giro d'Italia. Now, they've underlined their ambition by announcing the signings of two WorldTour riders.
WorldTour riders from EF Education-EasyPost and Lotto-Intermarche are among four new signings announced by the team, who welcome EF's Samuele Battistella and Lotto's Lorenzo Rota to their squad as they move from cycling's top tier.
Luca Covili signs from Bardiani CSF 7 Saber and Kamiel Bonneu has also been confirmed in a move from Solution Tech NIPPO Rali. Meanwhile, earlier in the transfer window it was confirmed that Filippo D'Aiuto, who finished the season as a trainee with the team and took a Giro d'Abruzzo stage victory, will continue with the team next season.
Battistella, 27, joins after seven seasons at WorldTour and five Grand Tour camapigns. An experienced all-rounder, his only professional victory came at the 2021 Veneto Classic.
Samuele Battistella
Rota and Battistella arrive from World Tour
Meanwhile, Rota's arrival brings a wealth of classics and Grand Tour experience to the team with the 31-year-old having ridden the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana alone this season.
"We've chosen experienced riders like Rota and Battistella, with the aim of having more riders capable of scoring points ," MBH Bank team manager Gianluca Valoti told Bici.pro.
The arrivals follow the team's forward ambitions after they signed Fausto Masnada last winter. They jumped from 48th in the 2025 rankings to 29th, the biggest move of any team inside the top 30 - and are now eligible for a call-up to any of cycling's Grand Tours.
Team helped produce some top riders
Established in 2011, the team had been Italian registered until the 2026 season, and retain much of its Italian identity with 16 of the 24 riders currently officially contracted for next season being from Italy.
Traditionally, the team has also been home to some rising stars in the sport before their transfers to bigger teams. Giulio Ciccone, Filippo Ganna and Juan Ayuso are among riders who have previously ridden for the squad.
Another hoping to carve a successful WorldTour career is Alessandro Fancellu. The 26-year-old moves from the team to Jayco AlUla after a strong 2026 campaign that saw him take a host of top tens, podiums and two victories. In the final weeks of the season, he also competed at the front end of several of the Italian classics and represented Italy at the European Championships.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- yeah... you're right...PogiSloFans04-11-2026
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
- He will be lol, but he can still win on the climbs hahaawp04-11-2026
- I would love to have his inconsistency. How many wins this year? 2 TdF stages, a WC, a Euro championship, San Sebastian, multiple wins early year. Monument podiums. I'd take it. I don't think he has a chance in the TdF, but he is still amazing.mij04-11-2026
- He's not going to win the TdF. Maybe if they make every single stage a TT he could win. But I still believe Tadej would just sharpen his TT skills and win.mij04-11-2026
- You beat me to it. Should he make a full recovery (likely) and go light early in the year. One, two, three. Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Should he be on a Feel-Like-He's-Fixin'-to-Die High.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- The deciding factor may be the (TBD) number of (any type of) kilometers without Pogacar.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- Unexplained chronic fatigue is an all too common bitch. The hard to find definitive answer may lie buried in gut mechanisms. A mystery of the deep.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment