Colombian under-23 champion Daniel Arroyave will step up to the WorldTour in 2021 with EF Pro Cycling. He confirmed the move on Monday in an interview with Colombian newspaper El Espectador.
EF is expected to strike a sponsorship deal with the Colombian government as it looks to complete its 2021 budget, with Spanish website Zikloland claiming that Urán’s stay at the team is tied to this deal.
EF Pro Cycling have lost some key riders for 2021, with Tanel Kangert moving to Mitchelton-Scott, and Sep Vanmarcke and Michael Woods signing for Israel Start-Up Nation. However, team manager Jonathan Vaughters has offered new contracts to all the riders who accepted a salary sacrifice during the spring COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
Arroyave joins fellow countrymen Rigoberto Urán and Sergio Higuita on EF Pro Cycling’s 2021 roster. The American squad has lost Critérium du Dauphiné winner Daniel Martínez to Ineos Grenadiers.
“The opportunity arose and I’m happy to join a big team with the other Colombians. I’m excited and happy because the 2021 season is beginning,” Arroyave told El Espectador.
A native of Yarumal in the Antioquia department, Arroyave spent the pandemic-interrupted 2020 season with UAE Team Colombia. He soloed to victory in the under-23 road race at the Colombian Championships in Tunja in February, and he explained that he had been in contact with his new team since early in the year.
“Since the beginning of the year there was a spoken agreement, and doors opened with the results that I showed. I hope to finish the 2020 season very well and start next year on the right foot,” said Arroyave, who had raced in Europe with Romanian Continental outfit Team Novak in the second half of 2019, riding the Sibiu Tour, Tour of Hungary and Tour of Serbia.
Arroyave has described himself as a complete rider and he told El Espectador that he hoped to shine in one-day races.
"I dream of being a world champion, an Olympic champion, winning Classics and, above all, being very happy and sharing the joy with other people,” he said.
El Espectador has also linked Vuelta a Colombia winner Diego Camargo (Colombia Tierra de Atletas - GW Bicycles) with a possible move to EF Pro Cycling.
Both Arroyave and Camargo are currently competing at the Clásico RCN.
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