Quick Step signings

Team Quick Step announced Italian Matteo Tosatto extended with the team for another two years and that it signed Italian Francesco Redo for two years.

Tosatto, 34, joined Quick Step in 2006 and won a stage in the Tour de France that year. He started this season off on a high note, taking the first leader's jersey in the Tour of Qatar when he led his team over the finish line in the opening team time trial.

"I'm satisfied," Tosatto said, according to a team press release. "With this team I've found the ideal environment in which to race and give it my best. This choice allows me to play an important part on the Tom Boonen train. He's one of the best sprinters in the world. This was the technical guarantee I was hoping for."

Team manager Patrick Lefevere was also satisfied. "Thanks to Tosatto and De Jongh's renewals, together with the arrival of Marco Velo and the growth of some of the athletes who've been with us for a while, like Rosseler, the team machine we've built around Tom Boonen is shaping up to be one of the best on the international cycling scene".

The newcomer to the team is 24 year-old Reda, who now rides for Team NGC Medical – OTC Industria Porte. This summer, he placed second in the Trofeo Matteotti behind Paolo Bettini and finished second in the Giro de Romagna this past weekend behind Enrico Gasparotto. He signed a two-year contract with the Belgian team.

"Reda was among the best in some of the most important Italian summer classics," said Lefevere. "We think he could be an athlete with lots of potential and useful to the team work." (SW)