With Assos confirmed as the new backer of the NTT Pro Cycling team for 2021, the team's management is focused on completing the roster, with Fabio Aru being closely associated with the team as Grand Tour leader.

Cyclingnews reported Thursday that Swiss clothing brand Assos would step in to save Doug Ryder's team and secure its place in the World Tour, and the team and Assos confirmed the news Friday.

BMC will remain the team's bike sponsor, with a total budget expected to be around €8 million. This is lower than Ineos Grenadiers and Jumbo-Visma, but enough to fund a competitive WorldTour roster, given the significant reduction in rider contracts due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that many talented riders are still looking for contract partners. Id.

After NTT discontinued its sponsorship, Michael Valgren moved to EF Pro Cycling, Edvald Boasson Hagen to Total Direct Energie, Louis Maintus to Circus Wanty Gobert, Ben O'Connor to AG2R Citroen Ben O'Connor to AG2R Citroën, and many other well-known players have already left the team.

According to Cycling News, Max Walscheid, Domenico Pozzovivo, Andreas Stockbro, Michael Gogle, Dylan Sunderland, and Victor Kampenaerts have signed new contracts through the end of 2022, while South African Jay Thomson, Reinard Janse van Rensburg, and Nick Dlamini are also set to remain.

European road race champion Giacomo Nizzolo is also expected to stay, but his contract has not yet been announced, and Enrico Gasparotto is likely to ride his last season with the team. Also, Belgian Dimitri Klaes, who finished sixth in the Tour de Flanders, is rumored to be moving to Cubeca Assos.

Alou spent three hard but well-paid seasons with UAE Team Emirates. He could become Qhubeka-Assos' Grand Tour leader, the terms of whose contract are probably linked to performance, and the team is betting on his return to form.

This year's COVID-19 blockade period hampered Alou's ability to return from the iliac artery problem and viral infection that forced him to abandon the 2019 Vuelta a España.

Although Alu struggled and ultimately abandoned this year's Tour de France for personal reasons, his Grand Tour results, including victory at the 2015 Vuelta a España, sparked interest from several teams at both the World Tour and professional team levels

He was the first rider to win a Grand Tour in the past.

Alou refused to reveal which team he will ride for in 2021, telling Italian television, "It will be clear in a few days."

"It's about the team's plans and goals," Aru said, suggesting that he would like to return to the Giro d'Italia in 2021."

"There will be changes, there will have to be changes, but we wanted to take our time to decide things.

Alu lives in Lugano, Switzerland, Italy, near the Asos headquarters in San Pietro di Stabio.

"We hope to welcome him to the team. Daniele Nardello, a former Italian rider and now head of in-house product testers at Assos, told La Gazzetta dello Sport on Saturday.

"I don't decide things. It's up to team manager Doug Ryder, his technical staff, and the owners. Fabio has another chance. He had a lot of problems, but his result is not a coincidence.

Nardello revealed that when Bjarne Riis left the team, Asos stepped in to help.

"The team used our wear in 2020 so we could test the wear.

"When Bjarne Riis left because he couldn't find a sponsor, we offered to help; we always liked Qhubeka's slogan, "Bicycle Change Lives."

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