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news
Alex Dowsett wins the 2011 IG Markets London Nocturne.jpgAlex Dowsett signs for Movistar for 2013
British national time trial champion Alex Dowsett is leaving Team Sky after two seasons to join Spanish WorldTour outfit Movistar. The news was confirmed in a brief statement published on Movistar's website this morning.
The 24-year-old from Essex, who is haemophiliac, joined Team Sky in 2011 from the Trek-Livestrong under-23 squad, where he was a team mate of Taylor Phinney.
Despite winning back-to-back national time trial titles and finishing eighth in the discipline at this year's World Championships in the Netherlands, his career at Sky has not ignited in the way he would perhaps have wished.
His 2012 season was also disrupted when he suffered a broken elbow in March during the Three Days of De Panne, which meant he missed the Spring Classics campaign.
Earlier this month, Dowsett attracted criticism when he described Lance Armstrong to the BBC as a "legend" in the wake of USADA publishing its Reasoned Decision, subsequently clarifying his comments by saying "I do think what Lance has done is completely unacceptable."
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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16 comments
"back-to-back national time trial titles"
How high is the bar at Sky then?!
Sky are probably glad to get rid of him after his ridiculously biased views on the Armstrong affair.
WHAT!
Did anyone else have no idea this was coming?
He'll probably get a tour ride right?
I can't decide whether this is a good or bad thing for British Cycling. It's great that British riders are getting chances at more Pro Tour teams, but I thought Team Sky formed to be a home for British cyclists. In the last couple of months 3 Brits have left Sky and just 1 has joined.
I think its a sign of the times in Pro cycling.
Just look at Euskatel, 18 years as an exclusively Basque team, next season that have riders from all over
The one guy that has joined though is pretty hot property and a potential grand tour winner !
Goes to show the grass isn't always green or the Sky blue, given the support each Sky rider receives. I agree with bikeandy61 Spanish cycling is a big switch off. Must be a ££££ (euro)money move.
The deal was done a wee while back.
Other's questioning the time of his departure have to bear in mind that because his hereditary genetic disorder. He would have two reason's never to dope.
1, it would be picked up even quicker in any tests
2, anything that effects his blood in any way could quite easily kill him straight away
I'm a big Dowsett fan, But where is your proof of this? His blood doesn't coagulate, that doesn't mean its BAD blood, far from it, look how well he's done!
Where am I saying its BAD blood, apart from being able to clot properly, there is nothing wrong with his blood.
But when you introduce other products, other than those to control the clotting process, then you put yourself into some dangerous territory.
Lets just take the riders drug of choice erythropoietin (Epo). Taking this while having haemophilia can cause certain biological (Morphology) alterations, which can be picked out very easily in drugs tests, but can also cause serious changes to your blood structure and can also cause things like leukaemia by changing your bone marrow make up.
I'm off to search out some links to back up my claim, but I know this from a study done in America years ago into the links between using certain drugs to treat HIV in Haemophiliacs.
With Dowsett also having to take IV products with him everywhere while cycling and carried in the following car at a certain temperature aswell. To risk taking any products would put him at risk.
(sort me out with one of those lovely softshell's you sell and I'll go write a thesis on it)
While the move from Sky is perhaps not a surprise, going to Movistar perhaps is. But then we don't know if he had offers from elsewhere. And sadly yes I am tarring the team with the Valverde brush, but I have to be somewhat skeptical of the whole of Spanish cycling at the moment. Recent history doesn't paint an appealing picture.
Lots of speculation about timing, but this is the time that riders and staff come and go anyway. Alex is vehemently anti-doping.
Unlike Movistar, as far as I'm aware. Did someone mention Valverde?
Bugger.
Inner Ring tweeted that the deal was done months ago, adding "2+2=4"
Two things:
Breaking a a broken elbow must REALLY hurt.
And at this rate Sky can part exchange the bus for a people carrier.
Not the best time to be leaving Sky
Good luck to him in the future.