EF Pro Cycling announced Tuesday the signing of 37-year-old Fumiyuki Beppu from the Nippo Delco One Pro Vance team. [Beppu said in a press release, "I am excited about this opportunity to contribute to EF Pro Cycling in 2021. My impression of this team is that it is a professional cycling team with a unique and always luxurious cycling kit and bicycles. The team has been great in the Classics and Grand Tours, and the teamwork has always been strong. I look forward to riding with them as a team."

Aside from three seasons with Pro Continental, the Japanese rider has been with a WorldTour team since turning pro with Discovery Channel in 2005. He spent three years with the team led by Johan Bruyneel before it disbanded and he moved to Skill Shimano. He then went on to race for Orica-GreenEdge and then Trek-Segafredo for six years.

The five-time Japanese national champion lives in the French department of Anne and trains regularly in the Jura mountains.

"I am highly motivated, which is probably my best quality as a rider.

"My experience in different types of races, such as the Grand Tours and the Monuments, is another strength that has kept me successful.

He and his compatriot Hideto Nakane will move from Nippo Delco One Provence to the WorldTour team.

The American team has significant ties to Nippo as a future co-sponsor. The Japanese company will also support the nascent Continental team Nippo-Provence-PTS after it severed ties with the Delco One Provence team, which faced complaints of unpaid wages during the 2020 season and the UCI initiated bank guarantee proceedings.