Irish sprinter Sam Bennett has extended his contract with BORA-hansgrohe, the German team announced today.
In addition, they also announced that they have extended contracts with Christoph Pfingsten, Michael Schwarzmann and Rudiger Selig.
Bennett took his first WorldTour win this year at Paris-Nice when he won the third stage from Chablis to Chalon-sur-Saône. In addition, he also took two wins at the Tour of Slovenia (UCI 2.1). He came close on a number of occasions to winning his first Grand Tour stage, finishing on the podium on four stages at the Giro d’Italia and the team feel that he can make further improvements.
“It was very important to me to extend our relationship with Sam Bennett,” said Ralph Denk BORA-hansgrohe Team Manager. “With his win in Paris-Nice he proved again to be one of the fastest riders in the peloton, and we think there is still room for improvements. With Rudi Selig we have an important helper in the lead-outs.”
The team also announced the signing of Davide Formolo. The Italian climber signed a two-year agreement with the German WorldTour team. Formolo previously rode for Cannondale-Drapac and finished in 10th place overall at this year’s Giro d’Italia.
“We are proud to welcome Davide in our BORA – hansgrohe team,” said Denk. “He is a talented rider, in Italy people talk of him being the next Ivan Basso. For us he will be an important rider for the Grand-Tours, but we also think he can play a big role in the Ardennes-Classics. Already when he was very young he did some impressive results, now it’s our turn to help him to take the next step in his career.”
Davide Formolo – “It wasn’t an easy decision to leave my old team, I had a great time there and we achieved a lot together. But it is impressive how fast BORA – hansgrohe develops as a WorldTeam and that appealed to me. Now I am delighted to take on a new challenge with them.”
