ORICA-GreenEDGE has signed Spanish climber Amets Txurruka to boost their power and experience in the mountains in support of the team’s young and developing team.

Txurruka, who will join the outfit from pro-continental team Caja Rural – Seguros RGA, previously rode four years in the UCI WorldTour with Euskaltel–Euskadi and has a palmares that includes a stage win at this year’s Tour of Norway and 14 Grand Tour appearances.

‘It’s a real dream come through for me to start this next chapter of my career,” Txurruka said.  “I’ve had a great time at Caja-Rural-RGA and I have a lot to thank them for, but joining ORICA-GreenEDGE is a once in a life time chance that couldn’t be missed.”

“It’s easy to see that it’s a team with incredible unity and a great atmosphere where goals are defined and met together as a team. I would like to be able to help achieve those goals wherever the team can use me and see my work contribute to the team’s results.”

The 32-year-old will support the likes of British twins Adam and Simon Yates and Colombian Esteban Chaves as the team looks forward to increasing its competitiveness in general classification rankings.

“At Euskaltel, Amets was a right hand man to Samuel Sanchez,” sport director Neil Stephens said.  “He has a heap of experience, he can climb well and he is a guy that is very realistic about his ability and he just wants to ride at the top level.”

“He will be the final rider to support our young climbers in the hillier races. As well as the physical support, doing a turn or moving them up into position, he will also be there to pass on experience and tactics as well.

“During this process, when I asked Amets about his favourite victory he actually told me about a race that he didn’t even win himself. His favourite victory was riding for a teammate to help him claim the win. That’s a pretty strong sign of the type of characters we want around this team.”

Amets Txurruka
Date of birth: 10th November 1982 (32)
Nationality: Spanish
Turned pro: 2007

Palmares:
– 1st 2015 Tour of Norway – Stage 4
– 1st 2013 Vuelta Asturias Julio Alvarez Mendo – Overall
– 2nd 2009 Tour de France – Stage 13
– Mountain classifications: 2015 & 2014 Tour des Fjords, 2013 Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco
– 14 Grand Tour appearances