Pro cycling team Movistar has signed 2011 Vuelta a Espana Champion Juan Jose Cobo in a two-year deal.

Cobo says he is joining "one of the biggest squads in the world."

The 30-year-old Spanish rider won his first grand tour in September while riding for Team Geox-TMC.

Cobo makes Movistar even stronger with the return of 2009 Vuelta a Espana champion Alejandro Valverde, whose two-year ban for being implicated in Spanish blood-doping ring Operation Puerto expires in January.