Cyclingnews can confirm that Sergio Higuita is set to join Bora-Hansgrohe, with Esteban Chaves set to replace his fellow Colombian at EF Education-Nippo.
Bora-Hansgrohe are set to bolster their stage racing capabilities over the winter, with 2020 Giro d'Italia runner-up Jai Hindley also set to join from Team DSM.
Cyclingnews understands that the deals for both Hindley and Higuita have been in the pipeline for several months, with talks dating back to 2020. Higuita recently finished 25th in the Tour de France and has a stage win at the 2019 Vuelta a España to his name.
With Higuita leaving EF Education-Nippo, the team were on the lookout for a replacement to join their climbing contingent and they have highlighted Chaves – who will be racing alongside Higuita for Colombia at the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games – as the man to fill that space.
The 31-year-old has been part of the Team BikeExchange set-up since 2014 and, despite injury and illness during his career, he has still notched up podiums in both the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España. He also won Il Lombardia in 2016.
Chaves recently finished 13th overall in the Tour de France but has also finished inside the top 10 in all of the week long stage races he has taken part in during the 2021 campaign. He will form part of core GC team at EF that includes Rigoberto Urán and Hugh Carthy.
The American squad are also expected to announce a number of other signings in the coming weeks, with official transfers allowed to be announced after the August 1 UCI deadline. Carthy signed a new long-term deal last summer, while Urán still has one more year left on his existing deal.
Team BikeExchange are not expected to make any major signings at this point in the season, with the Australian team set to focus on youth and their existing roster.
