The Cofidis team announced this Friday the signing of the Spanish cyclist Ion Izagirre. The 32-year-old runner from Ormáiztegui arrives from Astana to help Guillaume Martin and also to be the team leader in one-week stage races, as he already demonstrated by winning the general of the Tour of Poland in 2015 and of the Tour of the Basque Country in 2019.
Ion Izagirre thus joins the list of Spanish cyclists from Cofidis, where the brothers José and Jesús Herrada and Rubén Fernández are also, with whom he met at Movistar before heading to Bahrain-Mérida in 2017. In addition, he will also coincide with former Basque cyclist Bingen Fernández, who is now part of the team’s sports management.
In statements collected by the Cofidis team, Ion Izagirre showed his enthusiasm for this new adventure. “I am very happy to join Cofidis. Changing teams is always strange: everything will be new, customs must be changed. I am lucky to have great friends at Cofidis like Bingen Fernández or the Herrada brothers. It is a French team, But I think it is also a Spanish team! Seriously, it’s a great team with a lot of history and riders renowned. As we have spoken with Cédric Vasseur, I will have a double role in the team. The first will be to help Guillaume Martin and Jesús Herrada on the grand tours. And at the same time, in one-week races, you could play the leading role. For example, I want to shine in my country, in the Tour of the Basque Country “.