UAE Team Emirates have finalised their roster for the 2022 season with the signing of 23-year-old Joel Suter from Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles.
The Swiss rider, who has spent two years at the Belgian ProTeam, will join on a one-year deal, bringing the roster to 30 riders.
Suter's biggest rides of the year came on home soil at Swiss WorldTour races, the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse, as part of the Swiss National Team. At the former, he took second in the mountains classification, while at the latter he was fourth on stage 4 behind winner Stefan Bissegger.
"I am very happy to be on the road next year with UAE Team Emirates," Suter said. "It was a dream to make this step and it's now becoming a reality, so I am over the moon and ready to start this new chapter.
"Next week we'll link up with the team for the first training camp of the year so I'm already excited for that."
The team will come together in Spain on January 5 for the first camp of the new-look squad. Suter is the last of eight new signings for 2022, with GC rider João Almeida (from QuickStep) and sprinter Pascal Ackermann (from Bora-Hansgrohe) among the headline names on the incoming list.
Team manager Joxean Matxin Fernandez said that Suter will be called upon to support leaders like those men and star rider Tadej Pogačar.
"Joel is a proven team player who can support our big leaders in key moments," he said. "He's strong on the flat, in time trials, and has shown that he can also perform in the medium mountains.
"He's still a young rider at 23, but already has a few years' experience at the professional level under his belt and has shown some of what he can do at many WorldTour races already. I think he'll slot in very well with us."
Suter, Almeida and Ackermann will be joined at the team by several other major new signings, including climber George Bennett from Jumbo-Visma, and 2018 Paris-Nice winner Marc Soler from Movistar. Alvaro Hodeg (QuickStep), Alexys Brunel (Groupama-FDJ), and neo-pro Felix Groß also join.
Alexander Kristoff is the highest-profile name to leave the squad for 2022 as he heads to Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert along with Sven Erik Bystrøm. Joe Dombrowski, Valerio Conti, Alexandr Riabushenko, and David de la Cruz move en masse to Astana Qazaqstan, while Camilo Muñoz switches to Colombian team EPM-Scott.
Finally, Marco Marcato has called time on his career after 16 years in the pro peloton, while lead out man Max Richeze is also facing the possibility of retiring if he can't agree a deal to stay in the WorldTour elsewhere.
