Fourth signing for next season

25-year-old Spanish sprinter takes leap towards WorldTour with Movistar Team on two-season contract, after five years in Conti squads

The Movistar Team is pleased to announce on Wednesday that Carlos Barbero (Burgos, ESP; 1991) will be part of its squad in 2017 and 2018. Barbero's arrival marks Eusebio Unzué's fourth signing for next season, after the already-announced Daniele Bennati, Richard Carapaz and Víctor de la Parte.

Barbero will bring sprinting power to the Movistar Team in both short and long-term. Even though most of his five wins to date as pro were achieved into uphill finishes (the Circuito de Getxo, the Philly Classic or a stage in the Vuelta a Burgos, all in 2015), this Mechanical and Industrial Engineering student from Burgos, just next to the Basque Country in northern Spain, doesn't keep flat sprints out of his sights.

A five-year pro, part of the Orbea, Euskadi and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA squads, Barbero came just one step short for victory this season during stage two of the Vuelta a Castilla y León, where future team-mate Alejandro Valverde bested his climbing pace through the Alto de Fermoselle.

After Barbero's announcement, 26 riders have been already confirmed to be part of the 2017 Movistar Team roster: Andrey Amador (CRC), Winner Anacona (COL), Jorge Arcas (ESP), Carlos Barbero (ESP), Daniele Bennati (ITA), Carlos Betancur (COL), Richard Carapaz (ECU), Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP), Víctor de la Parte (ESP), Alex Dowsett (GBR), Imanol Erviti (ESP), Rubén Fernández (ESP), Jesús Herrada (ESP), José Herrada (ESP), Gorka Izagirre (ESP), Adriano Malori (ITA), Dani Moreno (ESP), Nelson Oliveira (POR), Antonio Pedrero (ESP), Dayer Quintana (COL), Nairo Quintana (COL), José Joaquín Rojas (ESP), Marc Soler (ESP), Rory Sutherland (AUS), Jasha Sütterlin (GER) and Alejandro Valverde (ESP).