Astana ProTeam (open in new tab) has signed Oscar Rodriguez (open in new tab). The announcement comes a day after it was confirmed that Rodriguez's current team, Euskadi Basque Country-Murias (open in new tab), will disband (open in new tab) at the end of this season.

A strong climber, Rodriguez performed well in his 2018 Vuelta a España debut with a summit stage win at La Camperona. He finished second overall at this year's Vuelta a Burgos behind Iván Sosa and eighth at the inaugural Mont Ventoux-Deniverée Challenge. The 24-year-old has been part of the Euskadi Murias setup since 2016.

"I am very happy to join the Astana Pro team for the next two years. I will do my best to be an important part of this team," Rodriguez said in a statement on Tuesday. [It's a big step for me in my career and I am ready to compete on the World Tour. I want to achieve my goals with my team and my new teammates."

On Monday, Euskadi Moulias released a statement confirming that he will be out of action for the season. Euskadi Murias was promoted to Pro Continental in 2018 and has earned wild cards to the Vuelta a España in each of the past two seasons.

Mikel Iturria imitated Rodriguez by winning a stage at this year's Vuelta, a victory that raised hopes that the team could find a sponsor to replace construction company Murias, but ultimately no new backers emerged.

Rodriguez is the seventh new 2020 signing Astana has announced so far. Other new signings include Davide Martinelli (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Alex Aramburu (Caja Rural-Segros RGA), Fabio Ferrone (Trek-Segafredo), and Vadim Plonsky (Vino-Astana Motors), Davide Martinelli (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Alexandre Vlasov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), and Colombian neo-pro Haroldo Tejada, who recently won a stage at the Tour de Lavenir.

"Oscar Rodriguez is a young rider who could become a strong climber, as he has already shown his potential in several races this season, such as Mont Ventoux and Vuelta a Burgos," Astana general manager Alexandre Vinokurov said.

"He is also a good time trialist and could improve further in this discipline with our team. In other words, he looks like he could be a strong all-rounder and we are interested in his progress on our team at the World Tour level."