The Italian veteran, who has not been named in the Polish Professional Continental squad for next year, is likely to mark a 25th season in the peloton since making his debut in 1992. The Middle East outfit, currently known as Massi – Kuwait Cycling Project in 2016, declined to confirm whether it is signing Rebellin when contacted about the information appearing through social media yesterday, yet acknowledged that Rebellin "would be a great cyclist for our structure."
Rebellin, 45, has raced for the Polish squad for last four years and secured some of its most important results, including wins in Giro d'Emillia (2014), Coppa Agostoni (2015) and mountain stage of Tour of Turkey (2015), as well as a number of top spots in UCI Europe Tour races.
The Polish team is to trim down its 27-man squad and will be racing with 21 riders during 2017 season. One-day race specialists Maciej Paterski and Simone Ponzi as well as Österreich-Rundfahrt winner Jan Hirt are set to lead the squad, while its ranks are further diversified by a four new signings – time-triallist Marcin Białobłocki (ONE Pro Cycling), Slovenian Jan Tratnik (Amplatz-BMC) as well as two young Czech riders from the folding Etixx-Quick Step feeder team Klein Constantia – Michal Schelgel and Frantisek Sisr.
With Rebellin's departure, CCC Sprandi Polkowice's structure undergoes further changes as Sylwester Szmyd, 38, and Tomasz Kiendyś, 39, both retire, while Spaniard Victor de la Parte jumps to WorldTour level with Movistar Team. Furthermore, Polish riders Eryk Latoń, Jarosław Marycz, Grzegorz Stępniak, Adrian Honkisz and Bartłomiej Matysiak were not offered new contracts and so far only Stępniak has found a contract at continental team Wibatech 7R Żory.
The team, led by former professional Piotr Wadecki, won 14 races in 2016 season, including the general classification at the Tour of Austria, Sibiu Cycling Tour, Tour of Estonia and Tour of Malopolska. It participated in a number of WorldTour races, highlighting its presence only with Paterski's sixth place at the Bretage Classic – Ouest France and de la Parte's 11th position overall in the Tour de Suisse.
CCC Sprandi Polkowice for 2017: Alan Banaszek (Pol), Marcin Białobłocki (Pol), Piotr Brożyna (Pol), Felix Grossschartner (Aut), Jan Hirt (Cze), Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol), Adrian Kurek (Pol), Kamil Małecki (Pol), Nikolay Mihaylov (Bul), Marcin Mrożek (Pol), Łukasz Owsian (Pol), Michał Paluta (Pol), Maciej Paterski (Pol), Leszek Pluciński (Pol), Simone Ponzi (Ita), Branislau Samoilau (Bla), Michal Schlegel (Cze), Frantisek Sisr (Cze), Patryk Stosz (Pol), Mateusz Taciak (Pol) and Jan Tratnik (Slo).
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