Ben King signs to Garmin for 2014

Former American under-23 road race champion Ben King has inked a deal with the Garmin-Sharp team for 2014.

King joins the Garmin-Sharp outfit from RadioShack. Prior to riding for RadioShack in 2011, King spent two years at the Trek-Livestrong development squad with the likes of Taylor Phinney and Alex Dowsett.

"I'm really excited to join Team Garmin-Sharp next year," said King in a Garmin press statement. "I have a lot of respect for the team and I'm looking forward to becoming a part of what Jonathan Vaughters has put together."

"I was teammates on the US National team with Andrew Talansky and Alex Howes, so we work well together, and I will consider myself lucky to race alongside all the guys on the team. I began my international racing career on Cervélo with the HotTubes Junior Development team, so it's nice to come full circle with them."

Garmin-Sharp CEO Jonathan Vaughters added: "Ben is a great young rider with a lot of promise and we look forward to continuing to help him develop his considerable talent."

King's best result so far in the WorldTour is 12th overall in the 2011 Tour of Beijing, where the 22 year old from Virginia also won the Best Young Rider classification. He netted the 'most aggressive rider' award at this year's USA Pro Challenge.

Garmin-Sharp has already released news that it has signed 21-year-old American Nathan Brown, 27-year-old American Phil Gaimon and 24-year-old Dutchman Tom-Jelte Slagter for 2014.

Ben King in the 2013 Amstel Gold Race