Colombian Fernando Gaviria has been named Movistar's new sprinter for 2023.

Gaviria, 28, turned pro with Quick Step in 2016 and will join his current team, UAE Team Emirates, in 2019 before joining Spain's World Tour United in January.

Gaviria has 49 wins to his credit, including multiple stages and a brief lead in the 2018 Tour de France. However, after near misses, mechanics, and more bad luck at the Giro d'Italia last May, his only win in 2022 came at the Tour of Oman; in 2021, he had only one win at the Tour de Pollogne.

Since the pandemic began, Gaviria has unfortunately contracted COVID-19 several times, twice in 2020 and for the third time in February of this year at the Tour of the UAE when he was at his best. He then broke his collarbone at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

The Colombian signed a one-year contract with Movistar and said in a team statement on Wednesday that he was pleased with the news. [It's a new challenge for me personally and for the whole team. I will be joining this prestigious team that has always focused on climbers."

"Having faith in me as a sprinter is a great motivation for me to represent a team with a great history, and the most important thing for 2023 is to fit in with the team, to get along with my teammates and form a great group with them so I can compete in the most I want to be able to compete in races."

Elsewhere, Movistar announced early Wednesday the signing of Neo Pro's Ivan Romeo and Portugal's Rubén Guerreiro to three-year contracts.

Romeo, a 19-year-old former Spanish junior national road and TT champion, is racing for the amateur Hagens Bellman Axiom team in 2022.

Guerreiro won the mountains prize at the Giro d'Italia in 2020 with his current team, EF Education-EasyPost. He also took a stunning solo win at Mont Ventoux-Denivelle this summer before abandoning the Tour de France due to illness. His contract with Movistar was signed after he broke his current contract by mutual agreement.