Will Barta will ride for Movistar in 2022, with the Idaho-born rider becoming the eighth new signing for the Spanish WorldTour team.
The 25-year-old signed a two-year contract and moves to Movistar from EF Education-Nippo. He will link up with fellow Idaho native Matteo Jorgenson, who completed a second year with the Spanish team. Both live in Nice during the European season.
Also joining Movistar for 2022 are Óscar Rodríguez, Max Kanter, Alex Aranburu, Oier Lazkano, Gorka Izagirre, Iván Sosa and Vinícius Rangel, while Miguel Angel López has moved to Astana and Marc Soler has joined UAE Team Emirates.
Barta developed via the Axeon Hagens Berman programme and was fourth in the 2017 U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He joined Team CCC in 2019 and finished second in the time trial at the 2020 Vuelta a España.
A fractured femur caused by a crash with a dog affected his 2021 season but he managed to race for 39 days, racing for EF Education-Nippo for a last time at Il Lombardia.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Movistar Team. Becoming a part of such a strong team with a long history makes me very motivated to be able to add to the team’s successes,” Barta said.
“My goals for the next few years are to contribute to the team by helping my teammates, and also going for good results myself when the opportunity arises. On a personal level, I would like to target one-week stage races and grow into a rider that can fight for victories there.
“A bonus of joining this team is being teammates with one of my best friends, Matteo Jorgenson. We have known each other since we were around 10 years old, and grew up racing in the same cycling club called BYRDS. Even then we dreamed of being professionals, and so to be on one of the best teams in the world together is really a dream come true," he continued.
“Being so close to Matteo, I was also able to see first-hand the care the team took with Matteo and that was very motivating in making me want to join the Movistar Team.”
Barta's move to the Spanish team is far from the only transfer of recent days, with Bahrain Victorious signing DSM's Jasha Sütterlin as well as Caja Rural rider Alejandro Osorio and Italian neo-pro Edoardo Zambanini. Meanwhile, Astana Qazaqstan have signed Trek-Segafredo's Antonio Nibali and UAE Team Emirates' Valerio Conti.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel Start-Up Nation announced the signing of sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo from the troubled Qhubeka NextHash team.
Check out our comprehensive overview of all rider transfers during the 2021-22 offseason for more.
