Young Colombian star Ivan Sosa's move to Team Sky is 'a done deal,' source says

Colombian talent Ivan Sosa will join Team Sky instead of Trek-Segafredo for 2019, according to a source close to the deal.

Sosa, his agent and Trek-Segafredo have all agreed the move, the source told Cycling Weekly.

The 20-year-old will join the super team that already includes talented fellow Colombian Egan Bernal.

Both riders came from Colombia via Italian professional continental team Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec.

Team Sky have declined to comment on Sosa's contract.

>>> Looking back at Egan Bernal’s year as the Colombian signs five-year deal with Team Sky

Sosa climbed with the best this season, including Team Sky's Chris Froome in the Tour of the Alps.

He won the overall in the Tour of Bihor, the Adriatica-Ionica, the Sibiu Cycling Tour, and the Vuelta a Burgos.

WorldTour team Trek-Segafredo announced in August that they had signed Sosa for 2019.

Sosa said at the time: "I am really, very happy to join Trek-Segafredo as of next year."

Over the last two months however, Sosa changed agents and the source close to the deal said "apparently he didn't have a contract."

Steps were made between Trek-Segafredo to pay out Sosa's contract with team Androni, where Sosa had a deal through to 2020.

But "the fact that he didn't have a Trek contract was only clarified afterwards, even Guercilena said so," according to Cycling Weekly's source.

Team Sky, clearly buoyed by Bernal's recently success, extended his contract through 2023 and are not believed to have cemented a deal with Sosa.

Sosa is from the Bogotá outskirts, a thriving environment that produced Nairo Quintana, Sergio Henao, Rigoberto Urán. He showed that promise in one of the top races for up-and-comers, the Tour de l'Avenir, where he won the short summit-finish mountain stage ahead of American Brandon McNulty and placed sixth overall in August.

"Sosa is a rider who has big future as a climber," Androni general manager Gianni Savio told Cycling Weekly in recent weeks.

"He can show that climbing talent well if he signs with Team Sky. He can go for stages in grand tours.

"As I've said many times, Egan Bernal is the complete package. Bernal, who showed in his first Grand Tour, the Tour de France, can one day get on the podium and win."

Savio uses his connections in South and Central America to sign talented cyclists. He often offers them the security of long four-year contracts. He takes a risk doing so, but when he finds a true diamond, WorldTour teams will pay large sums to buy the rider out of his Androni contract.

>>>Savio’s talent factory: How the Italian keeps finding new Colombian stars

Team Sky could also take Jhonatan Narvaez, the 21-year-old Ecuadorian currently has a contract through 2020 with Quick-Step Floors.

However, even with new title sponsor Deceuninck announced yesterday, general manager Patrick Lefevere is said to be making deals to sell off some of his cyclists including Fernando Gaviria to free up some of his budget dollars.

A spokesperson for Team Sky said: "We don't comment on speculation or rider contracts."