Longstanding Spanish WorldTour squad Movistar will race this year’s Tour de France with a well-rounded lineup that keeps its options open on GC, breakaways and bunch sprints.
Movistar will be headed by stage racing specialist Enric Mas, 29, in the team’s 42nd appearance in the French Grand Tour. A triple runner-up in the Vuelta a Espana, the rider from Mallorca is seeking to regain momentum in the Tour de France after his fifth place in 2020 and sixth place in 2021 were followed by a DNF with COVID in 2022 and crashing out on stage 1, in a fall also badly affecting Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), in 2023.
While Mas’ unofficial status as Spain’s leading Grand Tour racer has recently been partly eclipsed by the rise of young GC riders like Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers), Movistar have bolstered their Tour de France squad with multiple allrounders.
Recently crowned Spanish National Champion Alex Aranburu, his predecessor and teammate in the red and gold jersey Oier Lazkano and new signing for 2024 Davide Formolo will all have their chances in the breakaways.
Interest is also high in how Spain’s Javier Romo, making his Tour de France debut at 25, will fare in the world’s biggest bike race. Romo, together with Austria’s Gregor Mühlberger and the Portuguese veteran and former Vuelta a Espana stage winner Nelson Oliveira are likely to take on much of the general teamwork, but will also have their own opportunities to shine,
One notable absentee from the Movistar lineup is Rémi Cavagna, the former French National Time Trial Champion. Last week Cavagna, who signed for the Spanish team in 2024, expressed a widespread series of concerns about his current situation in the squad, amongst them difficulties with a language barrier and worries that he would not be selected for the Tour de France.
Another eye-catching element in the Movistar lineup is Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria, set to return to the Tour de France for the first time since he led the race and won two stages way back in 2018.
Gaviria has already raced the Giro d’Italia this season, while for Mas, who is also expected to take part in the Vuelta a Espana and with only 28 days of racing in 2024, the Tour de France represents the first big target of the year.
Movistar for the 2024 Tour de France
- Alex Aranburu
- Davide Formolo
- Fernando Gaviria
- Oier Lazkano
- Enric Mas
- Gregor Muhlberger
- Nelson Oliveira
- Javier Romo
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