The Spanish team Movistar has almost filled all of its available shots, with the latest signing rumoured to be the talented Italian rider Davide Appollonio.
Still just 21 years of age, Appollonio showed his strength on several occasions in the past month. He won stage four of the Tour du Limousin, finished eleventh in the GP Ouest France in Plouay, was 15th in the Châteauroux Classic de l'Indre, then placed second in both the GP de Fourmies and the Tour de Vendée.
He has been racing with the Cervélo Test Team still starting a trial with the squad in mid-2009. He is reportedly set to exchange those colours for those of Team Movistar on January 1st, and will be on of its chief young hopes for the future.
As reported by Biciciclismo, the team already has 22 riders lined up for 2011. The bulk of those – 15 – are part of the current Caisse d’Epargne squad which will form the nucleus for the new-look team. Those riders are Andrey Amador, David Arroyo, Marzio Bruseghin, Imanol Erviti, Rui Costa, Txente García, José Iván Gutiérrez, Vasili Kiryienka, Pablo Lastras, David López, Angel Madrazo, Luis Pasamontes, Rubén Plaza, José Joaquín Rojas and Mauricio Soler. It says Francisco Perez is unlikely to be part of the team.
There are seven signed riders, namely Appollonio, his current Cervélo team-mates Ignatas Konovalovas (Cervélo) and Xavier Tondo, plus Beñat Intxausti (moving from Euskaltel-Euskadi), Sergio Pardilla and Francisco Ventoso (Carmiooro), as well as Branislau Samoilau (Quick Step).
Others are leaving, including the headline rider Luis Leon Sanchez, who will go to Rabobank. Rigoberto Urán and Xabier Zandio are thought to be moving to Team Sky, Juan José Cobo and Arnaud Coyot are transferring to the French Saur Sojasun team, while Mathieu Drujon (BigMat), Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ), Mathieu Perget (AG2R La Mondiale) and Alberto Losada (probably Katusha) are also heading elsewhere.
The team management are said to be keen to sign a total of 23 riders for 2011, so one more place remains to be filled. Looking further ahead, there is almost certainly going to be a berth for Alejandro Valverde, who led the team until his suspension for links to Operación Puerto. He is due to resume racing in 2012.