Portuguese rider Rui Costa looks like he could be moving closer to signing with the Movistar team, with Eusebio Unzue appearing to confirm that there have been some talks.
“There is that possibility, but for now there is no agreement,” he told the Portuguese paper Record.
Costa previously raced with Unzue’s Caisse d’Epargne team in 2009 and 2010. He won the 4 Jours de Dunkerque and took a solid thirteenth overall in the Tour de Suisse during his first year. Last season, he won the Trofeo Deia, stage eight of the Tour de Suisse and the Portuguese time trial championships. He also rode the Tour de France, ending the race 73rd.
However his career looked to be under threat when he and his brother Mario tested positive for the substance methylhexaneamine at the Portuguese national time trial championships last June.
They protested their innocence, showing the source for the substance was contamination of supplements they had been using. Claims such as these have been heard often before in positive cases, but their position was strengthened when WADA ruled that methylhexaneamine was now classified as a 'specified substance', and liable to lesser sanction if proven it was ingested accidentally.
They were cleared to race earlier this year, and Costa told VeloNation that he was looking for a new contract. “My manager is in contact with a few teams and we are trying to figure out where the best opportunities are. I am hoping to return to racing as soon as possible and to show my worth,” he said a month ago.
“I'm a rider who always gives his best, and in return I hope a team will invest in me because I think I still have a lot of progression to make.”
Movistar currently has 25 riders, including Xavier Tondo, Maurico Soler and last year’s Giro d’Italia runner-up, David Arroyo.