Capecchi and Szmyd join the team in 2013
11 August 2012

Signings

The young Italian and the experienced Polish rider will reinforce Movistar Team's roster with their proven climbing abilities in the hardest races of the calendar

Italian Eros Capecchi (Castiglione del Lago, 26) and Polish Sylwester Szmyd (Bydgoszcz, 34) have become the two first signings from Movistar Team for 2013. The two riders, coming from Liquigas, will ride with Eusebio Unzué’s squad for the next two seasons. The Spanish manager commented on the two signings: “Szmyd has shown through all these years that he’s one of the biggest domestiques in the mountains, and his signing can do really well for us. Plus, Capecchi is a talent still with a huge margin of progression, and I think he might be able to tackle big goals in Grand Tours into a short term.”

Capecchi, pro racer since 2006 after a brilliant career as junior rider, including the victory in the Italian road championship, has four victories in the top tier: the Queen stage and the overall classification of the 2008 Euskal Bizikleta –profiting from his climbing abilities-, a stage in the 2011 Giro d’Italia and this year’s GP di Lugano, where he showed his stragegy sense into short fields. 

In turn, Szmyd is considered as one of the best helpers in the professional peloton, where he has spent eleven seasons on the top. Despite being always committed to team tasks –which did not avoid him getting into the top 25 at all Giro, Vuelta and Tour-, the Polish rider also had his moment of glory as he won the Mont Ventoux stage of the 2009 Dauphiné Libéré over Alejandro Valverde, with whom he’ll share ranks as of next season.