Soudal Quick-Step sign Gianni Moscon on one-year deal

Gianni Moscon has signed a one-year deal with Soudal Quick-Step for 2024.

The Italian rider spent the last two years at Astana Qazaqstan but failed to have his contract renewed by the team.

He becomes the 27th and final roster addition to Patrick Lefevere’s team and will slot into both the Classics squad and Remco Evenepoel’s Tour de France team.

“Soudal Quick-Step is one of the biggest teams in the world, I could see that when racing against this squad in the Classics in all these years, it always was the team to watch out for, the team who was in the right place at the right moment and made the race hard," Moscon said in a statement released by his future team.

"It was one of my goals when I turned pro to ride for Soudal Quick-Step one day and I’m delighted that this will happen next season. Coming here after two difficult years in my career means a lot to me and I want to thank everyone for putting their trust in me.

“I love the Classics, I love the way this team races and I can’t wait to be part of this group. I always give my best and I’m committed to what I do on the bike, and knowing I will be part of the Wolfpack makes me very excited.

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Moscon, 29, turned pro in 2016 with Team Sky. He spent six turbulent years on the British team, with his time on the squad overshadowed by a Tour de France disqualification and a six-week ban for racially abusing Kévin Reza during Tour de Romandie in 2017.

He joined Astana at the start of 2022 but since then he has suffered from a lack of both form and results, despite racing both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France as a domestique in 2023.

Lefevere has been on the lookout for bargains within the transfer market after losing several key riders. Andrea Bagioli, Rémi Cavagna, Tim Declercq, Michael Mørkøv, Fabio Jakobsen, and Florian Sénéchal have all left, while Dries Devenyns will retire at the end of the year.

Moscon offers a neat solution for a short-term problem as Lefevere looks to cover several bases at once. With a one-year deal, Moscon has the opportunity to prove he still has an important role to play on a WorldTour team.

“We’ve known Gianni for a long time now, since he was still an amateur. He is a very talented rider, who turned heads since his U23 days with the strong results he scored in races such as the Piccolo Giro di Lombardia and Tour de l’Avenir, and who continued to show what he is capable of also in the pro ranks," said Lefevere.

"He will be an important addition to our squad for next season, and we are confident that in our team he can show some beautiful things in 2024."