Published August 9, 2013 09:25PM
BMC Racing announced late Friday that it has signed Peter Velits to its squad for the 2014 season.
Velits, who has ridden for Omega Pharma-Quick Step since the start of 2012, is the two-time defending Slovakian national time trial champion. He was also part of Omega Pharma’s worlds team in 2012 that beat BMC in the inaugural world team time trial championship last September.
Specific details of Velits’ contract were not disclosed.
“Everyone knows that the BMC Racing Team is one of the best teams — not only with the riders, but also the staff and the equipment,” Velits said in a team release. “So I am really happy that I can join the team for next season.”
Now 28, Velits finished on the podium at the 2010 Vuelta a Espana and won the overall title at the 2012 Tour of Oman. This year, Velits took second in the opening stage of Vuelta al Pais Vasco (Tour of the Basque Country) and was third in stage 4 at Paris-Nice en route to a 10th-place overall result.
Velits said his goal moving forward is simple.
“I just want to get better,” he said. “I want to grow as a rider and, with this team, it’s going to be possible because I can learn new methods of training and working with new equipment. I don’t have any specific goal that I want to win this race or that race. I just want to really grow as a rider.”