Portuguese rider to help Contador and Mollema in Grand Tours
Andre Cardoso (Cannondale) (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Trek-Segafredo has announced that André Cardoso has signed with the US-registered WorldTour team for the 2017 season.
The 32-year-old Portuguese rider has competed with Slipstream's Cannondale and Garmin programs since 2014.
“I’m very excited about this move," cardoso said. "It’s clear that Trek-Segafredo is making stage racing into a bigger priority. The team has been very active on the rider market, and it’s the team that appealed the most to me."
Cardoso has just one professional win in his career, which started in 2008 with Fercase-Rota dos Móveis, but the agile climber has several top GC finishes and will provide a solid worker in the mountains for the Grand Tour ambitions of Alberto Contador and Bauke Mollema.
“Races of one or three weeks are really what I love to do, and working for guys like Contador and Mollema gives me huge motivation," Cardoso said. "We will be a team that needs to assume responsibility in the race, but this is a good thing. It requires everyone to bring their A-game and fired up to train hard.”
Trek-Segafredo General Manager Luca Guercilena said he was excited to bring Cardoso on board.
“Over the last years he has made it to the top 20-25 of every Grand Tour he participated in," Guercilena said. "His steady performances at this level make him an excellent helper for our main GC contenders, Contador and Mollema. I am confident that his support in the mountains will be very valuable for them and the team as a whole.”
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The Trek-Segafredo team is undergoing a transformation for the 2017 season following the retirement of Fabian Cancellara and the signing of Contador. Also leaving the team or retiring at the end of the 2016 season are Ryder Hesjedal (Retires), Yaroslav Popovych (Retires), Fränk Schleck (Retires), Niccolò Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida).
Other new signings include Mads Pedersen (from Stölting Service Group), Ruben Guerreiro (Axeon Hagens Berman), John Degenkolb, Koen de Kort (Giant-Alpecin), Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling), Greg Daniel (Axeon Hagens Berman), Jesus Hernandez and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) and Matthias Brändle (IAM Cycling).
Trek-Segafredo has extended contracts with Giacomo Nizzolo, Jasper Stuyven, Bauke Mollema, Gregory Rast, Markel Irizar, Peter Stetina, Fumiyuki Beppu, Boy van Poppel, Marco Coledan and Eugenio Alafaci.
