Former Italian time trial champion Adriano Malori is one of the two, making a shift from his current Lampre-Merida squad.

After winning the national time trial championship in 2011, Malori finished second and third in 2012 and 2013 respectively. His strength when racing against the clock saw him take a TT stage in this year’s Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali plus the time trial and the overall in the 2013 Bayern Rundfarht.

He will be an imperative supplement to the Spanish team as it seeks to bolster its credentials in team time trials.

The second addition to the Movistar is the Basque rider Gorka Izagirre, who has been racing with the Euskatel Euskadi team since 2010. He was seventh overall in the Tour Down Under this year and last season won the Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia. He also took a stage of the Tour of Luxembourg in 2010.

Throughout the 2013 season, the Basque squad has been competing with a question mark hanging over their heads due to the decision of the sponsors not to renew their backing. It was recently announced that Formula One driver Fernando Alonso would buy the WorldTour licence and set up a new team.

However Izagirre is moving on rather than staying put, transferring to race alongside riders such as Alejandro Valverde.