German champion Liane Lippert signs with Movistar through 2025
This article originally appeared on Velo News
German national champion Liane Lippert will leave Team DSM to join Movistar next season after signing a three-year contract with the Spanish squad.
Lippert is Movistar's first signing ahead of the 2023 season. The team has traditionally been fairly quiet, but highly selective, over transfer periods in the past few seasons.
As well as offering the team further strength in the mountains and at the hilly classics alongside team leader Annemiek van Vleuten, the 24-year-old will provide some continuity going into future seasons when Van Vleuten retires at the end of next year.
"I'm really excited to join the team for the next three years. I think the environment in the team is really great, and also the way of working and improving riders should help me much," Lippert said. "I'm really happy that the team wants to help me grow stronger in the future, bring me to the next step physically. I'm already on a really high level, but I want to learn, especially from the more experienced riders in the team, to hopefully win races together.
"From the outside, the Movistar Team looks like a big family, which is a big reason why I'm looking so much forward to this.”
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Lippert is in her sixth year as a professional and has spent her entire career so far with the DSM set-up. She is one of several key riders set to leave the squad at the end of the season with sprint star Lorena Wiebes moving to SD Worx and Leah Kirchmann retiring following the world championships.
The German rider has been taking big strides as a rider in recent seasons with this year her best to date. She finished on the podium at the Amstel Gold Race back in April and took top 10s at Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Lippert claimed her second German road race title in June and, more recently, finished second to Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig at the Tour of Scandinavia. She has also played an important support role for Juliette Labous, who finished fourth overall at the Tour de France Femmes.
With her switch to Movistar, she is likely to play a key support role for Van Vleuten throughout 2023. However, there will no doubt be opportunities for her to lead next season before she steps into a bigger role for 2024.
"We’re so happy to be able to announce Liane’s signing with the team. We want to keep building a strong future for the team, and she’s one of the riders poised to become a leader of the team once Annemiek ends her successful career," team manager Sebastian Unzue said. "She’s a solid rider for all kinds of scenarios, one who can be at the front of the bunch near the end of the most important races.
"She’s also someone who will play a crucial role for Annemiek, yet I’m also sure that having someone like Van Vleuten by her side will help her grow much and complete her progression as one of the best in the field. I’d like to sincerely thank Liane for her confidence in our project -- I’m sure we’re in for three years of big success together.”
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