Velonews has confirmed from sources within the team that 2017 Tour de France runner-up Rigoberto Urán will stay with Slipstream Sports for the 2018 season and beyond. Uran signed a three-year contract extension with the team back in August after finishing second to Chris Froome (Team Sky) at the Tour.
Jonathan Vaughters, the team’s CEO, released riders from their contracts just over two weeks ago, as the team’s future was in doubt. Urán reportedly gave Vaughters two weeks to find a sponsor, as the team weighed using a crowdfunding option as well. Now that the team’s future has been secured, it appears that most of the team’s top names will stay. Michael Woods signed a two-year extension and Sep Vanmarcke confirmed he will ride for the team in 2018.
Urán has long shown himself as a general classification contender in the grand tours, finishing runner-up at the Giro d’Italia in back-to-back years in 2013 and 2014 before finishing second at the Tour this year. In July, he emphatically won stage nine of the Tour into Chambéry with his chain stuck in the 11-tooth cog after a mechanical in the final kilometers prevented him from being able to shift his rear derailleur. He also excels in tough one-day hilly classics, winning the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec in 2015 after a solo attack in the final kilometer.
Caley Fretz contributed reporting to this story.
The post Uran confirmed to stay with Slipstream Sports appeared first on VeloNews.com.