After having the best season of his career, Tour of Lombardy winner Joaquim Rodriguez will keep his winning formula of four fellow Spaniards on the Katusha team to try and improve upon his performances through 2013.

'Purito' Rodriguez's management company confirmed today that Rodriguez's key mountain helper Daniel Moreno, Xavier Florencio, Alberto Losada and Angel Vicioso, all part of his Vuelta a Espana support crew, will remain alongside him for the coming season.

"Joaquim was confirmed through 2013 and wanted to keep his trusted teammates. It is a core group that worked perfectly and although we had offers from other teams we thought it best to keep the group together and give Joaquim the confidence to face the next season," said manager Ángel Edo.

Moreno, Losada and Vicioso came across to the Katusha team in 2011, all three were former teammates of Rodriguez on his previous Caisse d'Epargne squad. Florencio arrived this season from the defunct Geox-TMC team.

Moreno is more than just a domestique for Rodriguez: he won the overall Vuelta a Burgos and two stages, as well as two tough stages of the Critérium du Dauphiné, the GP Miguel Indurain and a stage of the Ruta del Sol.