Dennis to ride Vuelta a España for BMC after leaving Garmin

Image 1 of 3

Rohan Dennis will ride the Vuelta a España for BMC Racing, Cyclingnews can reveal. The Australian has moved from Garmin-Sharp to BMC Racing.

BMC’s director sportif Valerio Piva first confirmed the news, telling Cyclingnews that “I know that he will be with us. I don’t know if it’s official or not. I’ve seen the form for the Vuelta and he has an agreement with us from August 1."



However, Cyclingnews contacted the rider, who initially denied that his transfer had taken place.

Yet Cyclingnews is able to reveal the BMC roster sent in for the Vuelta with the line-up submitted as: S. Sanchez, Evans, Gilbert, Morabito, Nerz, Quinziato, Dennis, Warbasse and Wyss.

Dennis, 24, signed for Garmin at the start of 2013 after a background in track racing. He wore the yellow jersey in the Critérium du Dauphiné last year and started the Tour de France that year. He went on to win the Tour of Alberta and finished second in this year’s Tour of California.

BMC Racing, Garmin-Sharp and Dennis agree to the mid-season transfer 

Garmin-Sharp followed up with an announcement on Friday, which stated that it had come to a mutual agreement with both Dennis and BMC Racing with regard to the rider’s mid-season transfer.

Dennis and Garmin-Sharp received approval for the transfer from the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the Professional Cycling Council (PCC) to allow the rider to begin competing for BMC Racing on August 4, in what Garmin-Sharp referred to as a rare mid-season transfer agreement.

Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of Slipstream Sports and Team Garmin-Sharp responded to the transfer by stating, “Rohan is a great athlete. He has been a solid team member and together we have achieved great success, including a stage win at this year’s Tour of California and the overall win of 2013 Tour of Alberta.

“However, we understood his desire to work again with his former director Allan Peiper, when he was given the opportunity to do so in 2015. Rather than prolong the inevitable, we came up with a rare transfer solution that works best for Rohan and both teams. We view this move as not only a good step for the athlete and teams, but as major progress in the way the sport of cycling handles rider transfers. We wish Rohan luck in his new team.”

BMC Racing Team President and General Manager Jim Ochowicz said that he is looking forward to Dennis joining the team, and the strength that he will bring BMC Racing in prologues and time trials.

"This vastly improves our ability to be competitive in races that have prologues and time trials," Ochowicz said. "Rohan will also play a leadership role in some one-day races and one-week stage races that fit his profile. We expect him to be a big asset in Grand Tours and one-day races, too, where he will have a working role.”

Dennis later said in team press release that he was appreciative of Vaughters, not only for his time at Garmin-Sharp but also for signing off on the new opportunity.

“I want to thank Jonathan Vaughters, my teammates and the staff at Garmin-Sharp for all the opportunities they gave me the past year-and-a-half,” Dennis said. “I had a lot of success with Garmin-Sharp and I’m very thankful for that."

The Australian also noted that he is looking forward to working with Allan Peiper, and the teammates and staff at BMC Racing.

"My first experience with professional teams was with him [Allan Peiper] at the Tour Down Under when I went to Garmin-Sharp,” he said. "I think he is one of the best guys to look after me and I am looking forward to working with him as part of another great team. I am very excited for my future at the BMC Racing Team.”