Joseph Blackmore, the young British winning machine, is to step up to Israel-Premier Tech's (IPT) ProTeam eight months early, after the retirement of Rick Zabel opened up a spot in the senior squad.
The 21-year-old, who only joined the Israel-Premier Tech Academy at the start of this year, burst into the wider consciousness with overall victory at the Tour du Rwanda in February.
The young man from south London followed this up with overall wins at the Tour de Taiwan and Circuit des Ardennes – taking a handful of stages and podiums along the way too - before he won Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23 last month, after coming fourth at the elite version of Brabantse Pijl. It means he has won seven races in just four months.
"We are excited to welcome Joe to Israel–Premier Tech earlier than originally planned," Kjell Carlström, Israel-Premier Tech's general manager said. "When a spot in our ProTeam became available, it made sense to bring Joe up already to give him the chance to race at the WorldTour level, where we believe he will excel.
"He has enjoyed a fantastic start to his season and we are looking forward to seeing what he can do with us. Joe was already scheduled to race Tro-Bro Léon with IPT this Sunday so he will now line up as a ProTeam rider."
Blackmore was set to graduate to IPT's senior team next year, and has signed a two-year contract, but the date has been brought forward due to Zabel's retirement, which was announced this week.
The German rider is set to retire at the end of May, after racing Rund Um Köln, in his hometown of Cologne, with the German national team, but has already left IPT after four and a half years with the squad.
"It’s incredible to be in a position to move up and race at the highest level, starting on Sunday at Tro-Bro Léon," Blackmore said in the press release. "Hopefully I can have a good rest of the season alongside experienced team-mates who I can race with and learn from."
"I’m also incredibly grateful to the team for the confidence they have shown in me so far - I’m ready for the rest of the year now!"
