Manuel Beltrán (Photo: capture-the-peloton.com)

SAN DONA' DI PIAVE, Aug 10 (CP) - Manuel Beltrán Martinez will be joining the Italian ProTour team Liquigas at the start of next season. The 35-year-old Spaniard signed a contract for one year. Beltrán will be the team's leader at the 2007 Vuelta a España. In the past he already achieved a sixth and a ninth place in the overall classification of the race in his home country. The rider started his career at Mapei and he also rode in the jerseys of Banesto and Team Coast. Since 2003 he is riding for Discovery Channel, where he helped Lance Armstrong to three of his seven victories in the Tour de France. His first victory came in 1997, winning the Clasica a los Puertos de Guadarrama. Two years later he won a stage and the final classification of the Vuelta Ciclista a Catalunya.

© Jeroen Michiels