UCI WorldTeam

Movistar Team

These Spanish giants are the oldest team in the WorldTour, having started out in 1980 as Reynolds before switching to Banesto in the 1990s when Miguel Indurain won five consecutive Tours de France and two editions of the Giro d’Italia.

José Miguel Echavarri was directeur sportif and the beating heart of the team until 2008 when he passed the torch to Eusebio Unzué, who remains in charge today. The team’s seemingly baffling tactics in Grand Tours can be a source of amusement for fans as the team’s various leaders have failed to act cohesively on many occasions. Despite this, they have seen success in the Grand Tours in recent years, with Nairo Quintana winning the Giro d'Italia (2014) and Vuelta a España (2016) and Richard Carapaz the 2019 Giro.

2023 marked the dawn of the post-Alejandro Valverde era for the Spanish team, the first time he’s not been on their roster since 2004 after finally hanging up his racing wheels at the end of 2022. With ‘Bala’ no longer there to deliver victories, the team took a step back this season as Enric Mas, their main talisman in the Grand Tours was stymied by a crash on stage 1 of the Tour de France. Ultimately, it was the American Matteo Jorgenson who arrived in earnest at the top level of the sport in the spring with a top ten at Paris-Nice and the Tour of Flanders.

Once again, 2024 will see the team reshuffle as Jorgenson is on the move to Visma-Lease a Bike and Valverde remains in retirement, even if he flirted with the idea of a comeback to road racing. A rider who has turned back the clock and returned to the Spanish outfit, however, is Nairo Quintana who signed a one-year deal with the team after spending 18 months out of contract. The Colombian, who is still only 33 years old, will be hoping for a stirring comeback to the team.

Movistar, as well, will need that comeback to be a profitable one, as the relegation cycle begins to come into focus in 2024.

[@portabletext/react] Unknown block type "span", specify a component for it in the `components.types` prop

Provided by FirstCycling