Former Tour de Suisse and Volta a Catalunya winner Vladimir Karpets will seek to regain his best form in familiar surroundings next year, hoping that a move back to the Movistar structure will help him get his career back to its best level.
The Russian rider, who won the best young rider award in the 2004 Tour de France, has had a very quiet year with Katusha. It was his third season with his home squad, but while he had good performances in 2009 and 2010, including second and fourth overall in the Tour de Romandie, twelfth in the Tour de France, thirteenth in the Vuelta a España and fourteenth in the Giro d’Italia, he lost momentum this year.
His best performances came within the Spanish team, which previously was backed by Banesto and then Caisse d’Epargne, and ran by Eusebio Unzué. He has the opportunity to head back there, and will join up with other new signings such as Giovanni Visconti (Farnese), José Herrada and Javi Moreno (Caja Rural), Jonathan Castroviejo (Euskaltel), and Nairo Quintana (Café de Colombia).
The 31 year old is heading into what will be his twelfth season in the pro ranks.
Meanwhile Marzio Bruseghin has been rewarded for his strong performances this year with another contract with the team. The 37 year old Italian has been within the structure for the past two seasons and this year took three top ten placings in the Vuelta a España, including second on the stage to Bilbao. He also finished 14th overall.