Taylor Phinney signs deal with Cannondale-Drapac

The 26-year-old leaves BMC Racing after six years, during which time he wore the Giro d'Italia's pink jersey for one stage in 2012 and won the 2014 Dubai Tour.

Phinney, a three-time national time trial champion, broke his leg during the 2014 national road race and missed 18 months while he recovered.

"It definitely feels like a fresh new start, which I'm excited about," Phinney said. "The last few years have been pretty trying, though super rewarding. I've been putting a lot of energy into recovering from this ultra-broken leg that I had in 2014.

"BMC supported me through that whole process, and I'm really grateful to them for that.

"Once the idea came into my mind of making a big change in my career, trying something new, trying a different environment, it was just something that felt really right to me."

On his goals, he added: "If I think about the coolest thing I could do next year it would be to win the opening time trial at the Tour de France. To race the Tour de France. Because I've never done it."

Team manager Jonathan Vaughters said: "His injury was severe and very difficult to come back from. He's worked incredibly hard to get his leg to function again. At this point, there's no reason he's not going to be able to realise his full potential."