The 24-year-old joins Movistar after two seasons with Team Sky. He rode for Trek Livestrong in 2010, after being part of the Great Britain Under 23 Academy development programme based in Tuscany.
Dowsett won the British time trial title in both 2011 and 2012. Despite fracturing his elbow in March, Dowsett also finished second behind fellow Great Britain Academy graduate Ian Stannard in the 2012 road race championship. He finished eighth in this year's world time trial championships won by Tony Martin of Germany. He won a stage of Tour du Poitou Charentes et de la Vienne in 2011 and a time trial stage of the Tour of Britain.
Dowsett revealed that he could have stayed with Team Sky but opted to join Movistar.
“This isn’t a decision I have taken lightly, Sky is a fantastic team and I was flattered that they wanted me to stay but I have a new opportunity and a new chapter of my career,” Dowsett said in a press release from Team Sky.
“I would like to thank everybody at Team Sky who have supported me over the last couple of years. I now look forward to an exciting 2013 with ‘Movistar’.”
Other new riders at Movistar for 2013 include Eros Capecchi and Sylvester Szymd from Liquigas-Cannondale and Colombia’s Alonso Espina from Gobernacion de Antioquia.
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