Movistar have confirmed that Enric Mas will leave Deceuninck-QuickStep to join the Spanish WorldTour squad and become their Grand Tour leader for the next three years. The 24-year-old from Mallorca finished second overall in the 2018 Vuelta a Espana and is considered Spain´s most promising rider for future Grand Tours. Mas will replace Mikel Landa, who has already confirmed he will move to Bahrain-Merida in 2020, Giro d´Italia winner Richard Carapaz, who is set to join Team Ineos, and Nairo Quintana, who is widely expected to move to French Professional Continental team Arkea Samsic. Mas will share leadership at Movistar with fellow Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, with Marc Soler also expected to have a bigger leadership role. Mas raced as an amateur with the Fundación Contador team and then stepped up to WorldTour level in 2017 with QuickStep.ADVERTISEMENT He won a stage at the 2018 Itzulia Basque Country and confirmed his stage race talents at the 2018 Vuelta a Espana, where he won the mountain stage to Collada De La Gallina in Andorra. He went on to finish 1:46 down on Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) in the final overall classification. Mas made his Tour de France debut this season but his performance was overshadowed and affected by Julian Alaphilippe, who won two stages and wore the leader´s yellow jersey for 14 days. Mas helped Alaphilippe limit his losses in the Alps and so finish fifth overall. Mas finished 22nd overall and was third in the best young rider competition behind Egan Bernal and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ). Deceuninck-QuickStep have opted to invest in Alaphilippe, extending his contract until the end of 2021, and have let several big-name riders move on. Elia Viviani has already confirmed he will ride for Cofidis in 2020, with Philippe Gilbert expected to move to Belgian rivals Lotto Soudal. For all the latest transfer news and names, visit our 2019-2020 transfer guide.
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