Bettini stays put

The move comes as a bit of an about-face. Quick Step boss Patrick Lefevere had made it clear that he would not have the means to keep all three, Bettini, world champion Tom Boonen and Milan-Sanremo winner Filippo Pozzato.

But after receiving several offers, including a 2m euro proposal from T-Mobile, Bettini has decided to stay put:

"Our choice to renew our agreement come from the certainty that I'm still able to be play a role, with precise technical guarantees and with a group of people and sponsors with which I have shared all the great successes of my career," he said in a statement.

"We wanted to keep Paolo because he has been for a long time one of the pillars of the team, a man on which we can count," Lefevere said in the same press release.

With no one expecting Quick Step to let Boonen go, that could well leave the 24-year old Pozzato as the odd-man out. The Italian, who has spoken to several teams, including French outfit Cofidis, has told the media that he would want to take several riders with him to build a posse of his own.

LINK: Quick Step squad