Modolo moves back to Bardiani-CSF - transfer shorts

After taking his first victory in three years at the Tour of Luxembourg in September, Sacha Modolo will leave Alpecin-Fenix after two years and return to the Italian team Bardiani-CSF-Faizainè, where he raced the first four seasons of his professional career.

The 34-year-old Italian, who won two stages of the Giro d'Italia in 2015 and had 55 other victories, struggled for several years before being finally diagnosed with a gastrointestinal fungal infection in early 2020.

Modolo said in a team press release he was pleased to return to the team of Bruno and Roberto Reverberi. "I will come back in a team in which I have many good memories," Modolo said. 

"Half of my career victories have come in this team, so when Bruno Reverberi called me I didn't take long to accept, but obviously I'm not here to look to the past but to the immediate future, with the aim of starting the year as I ended this one, that is, being physically well, winning and playing my cards in the races that suit me.

"I also think I can bring a lot of experience to the young riders of the team. I have raced with sprinters of different generations, from [Alessandro] Petacchi to [Mark] Cavendish and in many teams with great champions, the last of which is [Mathieu] Van der Poel, so I think I can pass on so much to the new generations who are lucky enough to be in a team that gives young people real opportunities.

"It is no coincidence that one of the best memories I have in this team, beyond the many victories, is 4th place at the Milan-Sanremo in my first year as a professional. On a personal level, those who know me know that I don't look too early at the races, but just yesterday they presented the sprint finishes of the Giro d'Italia 2022 and the arrival of Treviso would be the perfect opportunity to win another important race and do it with the Bardiani CSF Faizanè jersey."

The Reverberis, quoted as one, called the signing of Modolo "the cherry on the top" of next year's roster.

"First of all, we confirmed all our best riders of 2021, all the emerging young riders who were requested by many teams such as [Filippo] Zana, [Filippo] Fiorelli, [Samuele] Zoccarato, and experienced riders like [Giovanni] Visconti and [Enrico] Battaglin. To them, we have added important new energy coming from 12 young neo-pro riders, some of whom are ready to amaze from their first year," the duo was quoted as saying.

"A fast, successful and highly experienced man like Sacha joins this already competitive squad. With Sacha, we talked about his return in the last few weeks and the deal ended last weekend. With us Sacha has had a great past, he has won 24 races in three years, numbers that only a champion can achieve, but with him, we look forward to the near future with further confidence. 

"As he demonstrated a few months ago when returning to victory at the Tour of Luxembourg, he is still hungry for victories and capable of the winning pedal stroke in his races and we can't wait to put him in the best conditions to get back to win with the Bardiani CSF Faizanè jersey."

Terpstra renews with TotalEnergies

According to Wielerflits.nl, 2018 Tour of Flanders winner Niki Terpstra has renewed with the TotalEnergies team and will join newcomers Peter Sagan and Daniel Oss in the 2022 roster.

Terpstra moved in 2019 from a highly successful eight-year stint with QuickStep that also included a 2014 Paris-Roubaix victory as well as wins in Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Eneco Tour and E3 Harelbeke. But his move to the French team has been riddled with misfortune, including a serious crash last summer that left him in intensive care with a concussion, collapsed lung, a broken collarbone and fractured ribs.

Although the team has yet to confirm, the 37-year-old told Cyclingnews in August that he was undecided on staying but said, "I like Total. It's a good team. It's friendly people, a good team spirit and good organisation. It's really nice."

The team has built its 2022 roster around Sagan, who comes across with his brother Juraj and lead-out men Oss and Maciej Bodnar, also brings equipment sponsor Specialized.

Tanfield brothers join Ribble Weldtite

British brothers Charlie and Harry Tanfield will be united in the Ribble Weldtite continental squad in 2022, the team announced on Monday.

Harry, the winner of a stage of the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire, comes from the Qhubeka NextHash squad, whose future is still undecided as the team scrambles to find a last-minute sponsor, while Charlie, the 2018 U23 national time trial champion, moves across from the Canyon-dhb SunGod team.

"With the current situation, I'm delighted to have found a place at a team that can support my ambitions of returning to the highest level in the sport," Harry Tanfield said. "I want to continue progressing as a rider and help Charlie to develop on the road. I believe I can do so successfully here with a strong European race program. I've known the team at Ribble Weldtite for years, competing both with and against many of their current riders. I am looking forward to picking up where I left off at the Nationals and getting stuck in again at the sharp end."

Team Principal Tom Timothy said, "We're delighted to add both Tanfield's to the team for 2022. We've known both riders for most of their cycling careers, indeed briefly signing Harry for 2021 before assisting in his step back up to World Tour with Team Qhubeka NextHash.

"We're excited to have Harry and Charlie for 2022, particularly looking forward to developing Charlie's untapped potential on the road. For the past few seasons, we've had our eye on Charlie and felt he's been sadly underutilised with limited development opportunities on the road. With the team's expertise at providing riders with the right environment and race calendar we're expecting to see both Tanfields produce some outstanding results."

The team have also brought on Red Walters as a neo-pro but have lost the top 2021 performer James Shaw to EF Education-Nippo.

"2021 was a successful year for the team, with results at the Tour of Britain, Tour of Slovenia and Tour of Norway highlighting international success alongside domestic success with overall victory in the Tour Series," Timothy said. "The team's development ethos and support of a core group of partners means that 2022 is shaping up to be even better with the team continuing at Continental level for 2022."