Gaviria signs with UAE Team Emirates for three years

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Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) takes first yellow jersey(Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Fernando Gaviria, as expected, has signed a contract with UAE Team Emirates, after reaching an agreement to leave Quick-Step Floors a year early. The Colombian signed a three-year deal with his new team, reportedly earning more than he would have with the Belgian team.

On Wednesday, Quick-Step Floors manager Patrick Lefevere confirmed that the sprinter was leaving the team, having ended his contract by mutual agreement. Due to financial difficulties, Lefevere told Gaviria in the summer that he could look around for a new team. Even though the team now has a new sponsor, Deceuninck, for 2019, Lefevere still let Gaviria go, indicating that he couldn’t match the UAE offer and preferring to spend the cost of Gaviria's contract in other ways.

Gaviria won nine sprints this season, including two stages in the Tour de France, where he wore the leader’s jersey for one day after winning the opening stage. He also won three stages at the Tour of California, again winning the first stage to take the leader’s jersey, as he also did in his season opener, the Vuelta a San Juan. His best performance was at the Colombia Oro y Paz in February, where he won the first three stages.

Shuffling his sprinters to optimise his team budget is nothing new to Lefevere, who let Marcel Kittel move to Katusha-Alpecin this time last year in order to bump Gaviria up the pecking order. His decision was fully justified as replacement Elia Viviani turned out to be the star sprinter of 2018, winning 18 races. Gaviria's exit will be softened by the emergence of fellow Colombian Alvaro Hodeg and Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen, both of whom have won multiple races, including at WorldTour level, in outstanding neo-pro campaigns.