Joe Dombrowski will leave EF Education First to join UAE Team Emirates for 2020, the American climber's new team has announced.
The 28-year-old has spent the past five seasons with EF Education First in its various guises, joining the team as Cannondale-Garmin in 2015 from Team Sky, where Dombrowksi had spent two seasons.
The move comes following his most successful season in some years: Dombrowski took his third career win this year with a stage at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah in Park City, adding to his stage win and overall victory at the same race back in 2015 in his first year with the team managed by Jonathan Vaughters. He also performed well at this year's Giro d'Italia, taking 12th place overall, which was his best Grand Tour finish.
"I had a number of people that I trust tell me good things about UAE Team Emirates," Dombrowski said on the team's website after having signed a two-year deal.
"The team has made some good and interesting signings in the transfer window, and I'm excited to be part of the where the team is going," he said, referring to the likes of fellow climber Davide Formolo, who joins from Bora-Hansgrohe, Max Richeze – who arrives from Deceuninck-QuickStep to perform lead-out duties for sprinter Fernando Gaviria – and young US talent Brandon McNulty, who moves over from Rally UHC.
"I saw good progress on my part this season, and I'm looking to continue that in the next two years at the UAE Team Emirates team," Dombrowski said.
UAE team manager Joxean Matxin added: "Dombroswki is a pure climber and a very interesting rider. He is a rider who showed great promise in the early years of his career and has built up a wealth of experience competing at the highest level. He can ride with the best on the climbs, as we saw in this year's Giro d'Italia.
"We believe Joe can be an important rider for the team, as he has the necessary qualities and the right mindset to help us in the final kilometres of the hardest races. Joe will be a valuable member of our team and his signing with us is part of the wider development and growth of the team," he said.
The team also announced one-year contract renewals for current riders Marco Marcato and Aleksandr Riabushenko.
