Team Sky confirm three-year deal with Diego Rosa

Team Sky have confirmed the signing of Diego Rosa from Astana on a three-year deal starting in 2017.

The Italian has spent the past two seasons with the Kazakh team, counting the one-day race Milano-Torino as his biggest win.

>>> Astana criticise Diego Rosa for ignoring Il Lombardia orders

But Rosa impressed most this season with his support as a team rider in the Tour de France and his results in one-day Classics.

The 27-year-old took 10th place at a gruelling edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, before finishing runner-up at Il Lombardia after being beaten in the sprint by Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange). He also took a huge mountain stage win at the Tour of the Basque country and won the mountains classification at the week-long WorldTour stage race.

Rosa said the move to the British squad was a 'dream come true' for him, and added that he is ready to support the likes of Chris Froome at the Grand Tours.

"Joining Team Sky is a dream come true and I'm very excited to pull on the jersey," Rosa said.

"It's a big step forward in my cycling career and I'm sure Team Sky is the best environment for me to grow and mature as a rider.

"My ambitions are in-line with those of the team: to work hard together to achieve important results. I'm ready to support the team's leaders in Grand Tours and do well in the one-day races that suit my skill set."

Rosa is the fourth signing at Sky after Owain Doull, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Lukasz Wisniowski already penned deals with the team for next season.