Giampaolo Caruso who got so agonizingly close to a big win in this year's Liege-Bastogne-Liege, has extended his contract with Katusha. The Italian is set to play a key role as a climbing domestique for Joaquim Rodriguez in the grand tours.

Italian rider Giampaolo Caruso will stay in the Russian Team Katusha during next two years. The agreement between the rider and the team’s management was signed this week.

For the moment Giampaolo Caruso who showed a very good shape in the recent Tour de Pologne, is preparing for the last grand tour of the season Vuelta a Espanã where he will support Katusha’s leader Joaquim Rodriguez.

"Giampaolo is a valuable rider on the team’s roster at stage races and grand tours, he has repeatedly reaffirmed this," manager Viacheslav Ekimov said. "In the last Liège – Bastogne – Liège he proved that can achieve high personal results. I am happy that Giampaolo will continue his career in our team and I hope we will see realization of his high potential at the Vuelta, which starts already next week."

Giampaolo Caruso signed with Team Katusha in 2010. Since then Caruso showed himself both as a strong helper for the team’s leaders in stage races and grand tours as well as a rider, who can make strong personal performances. Thus, among his best results are a TTT victory in a stage of the 2010 Vuelta a Burgos, a 3rd place in a stage of the 2010 Vuelta a Espanã, a 3rd place in the 2012 Trofeo Melinda, 4th place in the general classification of the 2013 Vuelta a Burgos and a 4th place in the 2014 Liège – Bastogne – Liège.