short rate. Staybar extends one season with Lefevre – Astana sign Valerio Conte and Antonio Nibali | Cycling

Zdenek Stybar and Patrick Lefevere continue together. The 35-year-old Czech has extended his contract with Deceuninck-Quick.Step – from January Quick.Step-Alpha Vinyl – for one season. Stybar will soon begin his twelfth (!) consecutive season with Team Lefevere. In his career, he has won E3 Harelbeke, Omloop, Strade Bianche and stages in Tour and Vuelta.

“I am very happy and grateful to be able to stay with this team. Here I want to finish my career in a few years,” says Happy Stepbar, who has had a difficult season due to a knee injury and heart arrhythmia. CEO Patrick Lefevre is also pleased with the contract extension. “Zdenek is one of the most experienced riders in the peloton and an important link in our team. He is a true ‘wolf’ who always gives everything for the team. We are convinced he can also deliver strong results next year.”

The Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are still dream races he wants to win, says Steibar. How much time will he allow himself, he will leave the Czechs in the middle, but he does not think about stopping yet. “I’ll feel it when that’s enough, but that hasn’t happened yet.”

Italians Valerio Conte and Antonio Nibali joined the ranks of Astana. They signed a two-season contract with the Kazakh cycling team, which became known on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old is leaving the Emirates team after five seasons. His list of accolades includes his stage wins at Vuelta 2016 and Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli in his first year as a professional in 2014. At Giro 2019, he was allowed to wear pink for five days. This season, Conte has missed the flowers at the Giro dell’Appennino (second behind Ben Hermans) and the Gran Premio Citta di Lugano.

Antonio Nibali, 29, closes the door on Trek-Segafredo after two years. The Italian, the winner of the Austria 2018 Tour stage, follows his older brother Vincenzo to Astana.