Kiserlovski signs for RadioShack-Nissan

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Robert Kiserlovski will ride for RadioShack-Nissan in 2013 after agreeing to a two-year contract with the team. The Croatian rider has spent the past two seasons in the colours of Astana.

“I'm very proud to be joining this team. I really like the international look and feel of it, and it will be good to race with so many people from different nationalities," Kiserlovski said. "This is a good opportunity for me, it’s really the next step in my career."

A solid climber, Kiserlovski finished 10th overall at the 2010 Giro d’Italia while riding in support of winner Ivan Basso at Liquigas, and he aims to return to the Italian race in 2013. "I hope I will be able to race the Giro,” he said. “Most riders prefer the Tour, but the Giro is my dream race."

After a string of solid showings in week-long stage races during the spring of 2012, Kiserlovski was one of a number of Astana riders to perform at a very high level in the Ardennes classics. He finished fifth at Flèche Wallonne and played an important role in Maxim Iglinskiy’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège victory.

Kiserlovski suffered misfortune at the Tour de France, however, and sustained a broken collarbone after he punctured on the tack-strewn descent of the Mur de Péguère.

“Robert is a rider with an attacking mind. We've been following him for some time now,” RadioShack-Nissan manager Johan Bruyneel said. “He rode a nice Ardennes week, even though he was a novice in that kind of work. He was also very strong in the Tour, until he unfortunately crashed out of the race with a broken collarbone.

“Robert is a strong addition to our roster and he will have a free role in certain races. I'm confident that he will be able to improve even more in our outfit. He has the quality needed, we'll work on consistency now.”

Kiserlovski’s impending arrival follows the news that Jens Voigt has signed a year-long extension to his contract with RadioShack-Nissan in spite of the team’s troubled 2012 campaign.

In recent months, Bruyneel has been charged with doping violations by the US Anti-Doping Agency, Fränk Schleck tested positive for Xipamide at the Tour de France and three of the team’s riders complained to the UCI that they had not been paid their wages in full.