The AG2R La Mondiale team moved quickly to silence transfer rumors against Ineos Grenadiers' Gianni Moscon.

Moscon is under contract with Ineos through 2021, but Italian TV journalist Beppe Conti reported on RAI on Sunday that he and the team management's relationship has deteriorated and that he could be transferred to AG2R next year.

Conti is known for his "Petardo" or "Firecracker" transfer news. Some are true, some are not.

The AG2R team, in an unusual move, issued a statement outright denying the truth of the rumors in an attempt to quash them before they spread.

"Contrary to various media reports, the AG2R La Mondiale team has never been in contact with Gianni Moscon," said a team spokesman.

"As has been indicated for several weeks, recruiting for 2021 has been completed.

Last month, Moscon announced that he would be transferring to the Ineos Grenadiers in 2021.

Moscon, 26, was disqualified in the spring after throwing his bike at another rider in Coure Brussel-Coulomb. In the fall he returned to one-day racing in Italy, but the year was complicated when his father fell at COVID-19.

"I don't want to think [about my future] right now. If I don't, I'll get distracted and my work will not go well," Moscon recently told Bicisport (open in new tab).

"Right now this is my day job and I need to switch off. I'll start thinking about next season in December. At the moment I don't even know when I can resume racing or what the calendar will look like."

AG2R La Mondiale has acquired a number of new players for the 2021 campaign, when it will compete as the AG2R Citroën team. Romain Bardet and Pierre Latour have left the team, while Greg Van Avermaert, Bob Jungels, Lilian, and Carméjane represent this winter of change.