Moreau to Agritubel

French champion Christophe Moreau will move from his current Ag2r Prévoyance squad to the Professional Continental Agritubel team for the twilight of his career, according to AFP. The 36 year-old winner of the 2007 Dauphiné Libéré rode for his current squad for two seasons after leaving the Credit Agricole team, where he raced from 2002-2005.

The Ag2r squad will lose a rider who was having a resurgence this season, and who was poised for his best Tour de France finish until an unfortunate crash caused him to lose time. Team manager Vincent Lavenu said that the team was unable to come to an agreement with the French champion. "The financial ambitions [of Moreau] did not correspond to our reality. We remain on good terms."

Moreau's one year contract will add much needed reinforcement to the Agritubel squad after a number of riders have left the team including the team's climbers, Tour stage winner Juan Miguel Mercado and Moisés Dueñas as well as Lithuanians Linas Balciunas and Aivaras Baranauskas, Spaniards José Alberto Martinez and Manuel Calvente, Hans Dekkers and Frenchmen Samuel Plouhinec and Denis Robin.

Moreau will join other new signings at Agritubel, including Cofidis' Geoffroy Lequatre and Belgians Steven Caethoven (Chocolade Jacques) and neo-pro Kevin Ista, as well as two as yet unsigned riders. General manager David Fornes indicated that the budget for the team would be increased to bring on more riders, up 200,000 Euros to a total of nearly €3.6 million.