Alpecin Phoenix strengthened its sprint roster with the acquisition of Jakub Maleczko.

The 27-year-old Italian of Polish descent has joined the Belgian team on a two-year contract.

Maleczko moves from Vini Zabu, a second-division Italian team that is set to cease operations as a professional team next year.

"The team specializes in sprints and one-day races, and they have a great lead-out. In a short statement from his new team, Maletzko said, "I am convinced that coming here is a good choice for me.

"I am interested to see how well I can sprint in my Alpecin Phoenix kit.

Maletzko has nearly 50 wins as a professional, most of them at the lower levels of the Asian Tour. He has 20 wins at the Tour of Tai Fu Lake, including two overall victories, seven at the Tour of Hainan, and three at the Tour de Langkawi.

This year, he scored one of his biggest victories, beating Mark Cavendish on the opening stage of the Settimana Coppi e Bartali.

Maletzko spent the 2021 season with the Vini Zabu team with which he began his career in 2015. In between, he spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons at the World Tour level with the CCC team, but only won three stages at the Tour de Hongri with that team.

When the CCC team disbanded, he returned to Vini-Zabu, but was forced to find a new home under similar circumstances when the Italian team lost its title sponsor to Intermarque Wanti-Gobert.

At Alpecin Phoenix, he is expected to make his mark on one of the world's leading sprint teams, albeit still at the second division level. This year, Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen have won nine races each, and have won sprint races in all three Grand Tours.

Alpecin Phoenix, led by Mathieu van der Pol, is already Stefano Aldani (Lotto Soudal), Michael Gogl (Qhubeka-NextHash), and Rob Stannard (BikeExchange), Fabio van den Bosche (Sport Vlaanderen), and neo-pros Maurice Ballestet and Sam Gaze.

They lose Louis Verwerke to Quick Step, Ben Truett to Ineos Grenadiers, and Otto Felgaerde to Trek Segafredo.