Sérgio Paulinho will return to Portugal. After the demise of the Tinkoff team and failure to land a contract with Trek - Segafredo where he would have joined his captain Alberto Contador, the vice-Olympic champion from Athens in 2004 will move to the continental category. 

The rider from Oeiras has signed a one-year contractcontract with Efapel and will obviously be captain of the team. For Paulinho, it will be the first experience in the continental category since 2002 as he has been riding for WorldTour teams for most of his career.

Evngeny Petrov and Matteo Tosatto are now the only Tinkoff riders without a contract for 2017.