Matteo Malucelli's career is quite an interesting one. The Italian sprinter has raced for Italian teams, then Spain, then Russia for a few months before the disband of the Gazprom team... And for the past three seasons Chinese, Belgian and Japanese teams. In 2025 he will race for a Kazakh team and at 31 years of age will finally race for the first time in the World Tour.
“Matteo Malucelli is a well-known rider with serious potential. The fact that he’s currently racing at the continental level is more of a coincidence than a reflection of his abilities, so it’s only logical that after such a successful season, he’s earned his place at the WorldTour," team manager Alexandr Vinokourov said in a press release. "Malucelli was impressive in Le Tour de Langkawi, as well as in several other races, and I believe he can be a great asset to our team next year as a powerful sprinter”.
With Mark Cavendish retiring, Astana Qazaqstan Team is on the hunt for more sprinters to fill in the spot. The signing of Caleb Ewan is still on hold at the moment, but Malucelli will join the likes of Cees Bol, Max Kanter, Mike Teunissen and Gleb Syritsa next season. It is a one-year deal for the rider who has recently won three stages at the Tour de Langkawi, but in total he has taken 10 wins this year much due to his focus on the Asian calendar.
“It’s an honor for me to join such a great team as Astana Qazaqstan Team, which has made history in cycling," Malucelli dadded, as he becomes part of a squad that will be hunting UCI points next year in search of maintenance at the highest level of the sport. "I am 100% ready to show everything I’m capable of at the WorldTour level after a successful season rich for victories. I’m incredibly motivated to start this new chapter of my career and can’t wait to wear the Astana Qazaqstan Team jersey”.
Place comments
0 Comments
You are currently seeing only the comments you are notified about, if you want to see all comments from this post, click the button below.
Show all comments