Plichta signs with Trek – Women's transfer shorts

Image 1 of 3

Trek announced on Wednesday that it has signed Anna Plichta, 26, as the 12th rider for the newly minted 2019 UCI women's squad. Plichta joins the team from Boels Dolmans.

After a rocky start to her road cycling career, with a season plagued by illness and injury with WM3 in 2017, Plichta signed with the Belgian team Lensworld-Kuota, but the team lost its sponsor and folded. Luckily, Boels Dolmans stepped in with an offer, and the Polish rider showed herself to be a valuable team player.

Her past top results in the Tour de Feminin, where she was second overall in 2016 and third in 2015, show she has untapped potential in the mountains in addition to her strengths as a domestique.

"I am super excited with all that is coming next season," Plichta said in a press release. "The team looks incredibly professional, so I'm very motivated to be part of it. For the next year, I believe we can achieve a lot as a team, and I hope it's also possible for me to succeed. There are a lot of chances, and if we race aggressively, as I like to, hopefully good results will follow."

Plichta will be part of an elite group, with returning Briton Lizzie Deignan, Elisa Longo Borghini, Ellen van Dijk, Lotta Lepisto, Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Ruth Winder, Trixi Worrack, Tayler Wiles, Lauretta Hanson, Letizia Paternoster and Abi Van Twisk all included in next year's team.

Sheyla Gutiérrez joins Movistar

Spaniard Sheyla Gutierrez, 24, has signed with the Movistar squad for 2019. The plucky Roija native nicknamed 'La Leona' (The Lion) has spent the past three seasons with the Cylance team.

A winner of a stage in the Giro Rosa, the one-day Le Samyn, and the Spanish road race in 2017, Gutierrez won the overall at the Tour of Zhoushan Island and the Panorama Guizhou International – both UCI 2.2-ranked stage races – in China this season.

In early June, Gutierrez was hit by a car while training, but came back in time for the Giro Rosa, where she came just shy of a stage win when her breakaway was caught just before the line on stage 2. She led the mountains classification for two stages.

She joins Roxane Fournier as newcomers to the sister team of the men's WorldTour outfit.

Ale Cipollini sign Diana Peñuela Nadia Quagliotto

The Italian squad Ale Cipollini has added two riders for the 2019 season. Colombian Diana Peñuela, 32, comes across from the UnitedHealthcare squad, while Nadia Quagliotto, 21, joins from the Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo team.

A strong climber, Quagliotto finished second to Astana's Sofia Bertizzolo in the best young rider competition at the Giro Rosa as well as winning the Trofeo Città di Seren del Grappa national-level race and taking a top 10 result in the Italian Championships road race.

"I'm very proud to become part of the Ale Cipollini project," said Quagliotto. "It's the guiding light of Italian cycling teams around the world, and I'll give my best to reward the confidence that the team has given me."

Peñuela specialises in sprints, winning stages of the Tour of the Gila and Joe Martin Stage Race and landing on the podium of the Winston Salem Classic.

"I'm very happy to be joining one of the best teams in the world, Ale Cipollini, for the upcoming 2019 season," Peñuela said. "This is a great opportunity to take my skills and experience to the next level at the WorldTour where our collective efforts will help build excellent results as a team. On a personal level, I consider myself a mentally and physically strong athlete, and I like big challenges. I aim to adapt as soon as possible to European cycling and to helping the objectives of the Ale Cipollini team. I'm grateful to them for giving me this opportunity, and I'm looking forward to racing with my new teammates."

Women's 2018-2019 Transfers

You can find the full list of women's team transfers for the 2018-2019 seasons on our index here. Have information you'd like added to our list? Email cyclingnews@cyclingnews.com.