And so we come to the old stalwart Spanish team. The team that was home to Pedro Delgado in the late ‘80s, and that famous giant-among-men Miguel Indurain in the ‘90s. Yes, for 40 years, in unbroken succession they have operated, and for the past decade they have been known as the Movistar Team, for the Spanish telecom company has been the title sponsor now for a decade. For much of the twenty-teens Movistar was one of the titan teams of the sport. They had Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsaic) in his heyday, the King and hero of the New Generation of Colombian climbers, three times he finished on the Tour podium for them. For a couple years they had the Basque weapon Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) in their ranks to wreak Grand Tour havoc. In 2019, Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) surprised the cycling world when he snatched away victory of the 2019 Giro d’Italia from the likes of Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo), and then teammate Mikel Landa. But those heady days of Spanish-speaking heavyweight Grand Tour stars forming triumvirates and tridents have come to an end. Carapaz was gobbled up by Ineos before he even lifted aloft that infinite Giro trophy. Landa wished to finally be free in the Grand Tours and left for a team with more spacious pastures in Grand Tour leadership. And Quintana, the King of Colombian cycling, the Movistar brand ambassador to all of South America, the one all thought would be the first Colombian to win the Tour de France, sorrowfully departed from the team at the end of 2019 to start afresh in the burgeoning French Arkea-Samsaic team. It was clear Quintana and Movistar’s partnership quest for Tour victory simply would not work out, their window had closed, they had failed. And so in 2020, where did that leave this Movistar team? They were on a decline; their empire was crumbling rapidly or even completely imploding. The departure of such titans and headliners of the sport left quite a hole in the team’s heart. These departures still even now cast large shadows that haunt the team managers and riders of the former and yet ultimately unrealized greatness of the team from the past decade. Thus in 2020, they began or were forced to transition and overhaul the team completely, and thus their results were meager and it was a season to forget. And thus they enter year two of the rebuild, surely it cannot be worse than year one. Let us review their lineup, let us see who their stars shall be.
In pride of place, we must begin with the veteran: wily ole Alejandro Valverde—the Green Bullet. For some fifteen years he has been with the team, give or take a year or two when he had to serve a multi-year suspension for doping. Now forty years old, some wonder why he is still around, why he has yet to retire? Truly, the answer is simple: he loves to ride…and even more to race! In most seasons past we have seen him win across the cycling calendar: from February to October, from Ardennes Classics that are his bread-and-butter to countless stages of the Grand Tours. We have seen him finish on the podium of the Tour de France in 2015. We have seen him win the Vuelta outright in 2009, even in 2019 he still finished 2nd on the podium. He has a record five wins at Fleche Wallone on the mighty Mur de Huy—one of the most famous “Walls” of the cycling world. For so long he was the nearly-man at the World Championships, but finally he overcame his seemingly cursed destiny and wore the Rainbows in Innsbruck in 2018. But despite all this, his 2020 season was one to forget where he finished with a Goose-Egg in the wins column. Perhaps, this is a theory of mine, perhaps this veteran Valverde’s career longevity comes from an enjoyable schedule of racing into shape. Perhaps his domination from February to October comes from the fact that he is always on good form all season…and yet never quite peaks in the way other headliners channel all their mental energy on peaking for their Monument and Grand Tour objectives. For the biggest objectives of the year, it seems many headliners make sure they are functioning at 100% of their potential, and if this means they are at 85% for the tune-up races along the way so be it. It is my theory this is not the case for Alejandro Valverde, I do believe he simply stays at a high level—90 to 95% of his potential—all season. And if he lacks the form to win a Grand Tour, or a Monument, or the Olympics, or the World Championships so be it. So be it, because often a 95% Valverde is capable of winning just about every race on the calendar, and he needs not go to the dark-depths of torturous training camps and straining mental energy for months and months on focusing for one coming big objective of the season—surely, such mental endeavors are what take the massive tolls on a career. Yes, this is my theory to Valverde’s seeming eternal youth. It is supported by the evidence that he openly states his distain for altitude training-camps and his high count of race days. And I do believe his dismal results in 2020 add to this theory too: three to four months of no racing, how could the veteran stay in shape? He loves not training, he loves racing: thus coming out of lockdown his results were anonymous. And with all of that in mind, what does 2021 hold for the man? It is rumored this is to be his final season, but this is one retirement I shall not believe until I see it. What shall be on tap? Surely, one last Ardennes campaign, but shall it be a full charge or only a victory lap on the races he has so often won? Shall he ride one last Tour de France, perhaps even take a swansong stage? Surely, he must make one last Olympic tilt in Tokyo. And surely, surely, it would be unjust or almost criminal to not ride a final Vuelta in front of his Spanish compatriots…I dare say, there would be the perfect place to retire at the season’s end: perhaps even dub new Spanish cycling nobility, and pass on the mantle of team’s heart to other promising Spanish knights within the team.
Surely, there are two Spanish heirs in mind, both in only their mid-20s: surely now would be the time to become new beating-hearts of the team. Yes, I speak of Enric Mas and Marc Soler. Marc Soler has been the homegrown Spanish talent for six or so years now. In 2015, as a young man, he won the prestigious Under-23 Tour de l’Avenir—the “Race of the Future” it is known to be—and in 2018 he won the prestigious Paris-Nice weeklong stage race. I remember too, when his Herculean efforts at the 2017 Volta a Catalunya where off the back of his efforts Valverde easily sealed victory overall. That was the race I first heard of Soler, when I watched him put Alberto Contador, Chris Froome (Israel Startup Nation), and many other famous GC names to the sword. I remember it was wonderful to see, I remember I thought we were discovering Spain’s next premiere Grand Tour rider. But after he won Paris-Nice in 2018, his progression has stalled out. Perhaps too often forced to work for others in the Grand Tours, perhaps too often causing friction around the team. At least last year, he finally took his first Grand Tour stage win at the Vuelta: the stage was thrilling and at least somewhat helped Movistar save face after such an embarrassingly quiet season. And thus we come to what is to be a crucial season in this rider’s career. He has appointments with the Giro and the Vuelta, surely he shall have a leadership role in at least one and he shall have to make it count. He shall have to make it count, because there is another Spaniard in the same team who now seems in position to be the next great Spanish Grand Tour hope. Enric Mas was the salvage replacement for the Quintana, Landa, Carapaz departures at the end of 2019. In 2018, Mas surprisingly finished on the Vuelta podium, and he signed with Movistar in 2020 once his Quickstep contract was up. He was not able to fill the void Quintana left, but in 2020 he proved reliable finishing 5th Overall at the Tour and the Vuelta. He is talented and likeable, and he shall ride the Tour this year: but he shall not have sole leadership.
The headline offseason signing this Movistar team made was of course of Miguel Angel “Superman” Lopez from Astana. Superman trades pale blue for powder blue this season. I brought up the departures earlier in this preview to emphasize the hole and shadow they left behind. With this signing, they truly begin to fill the void. They have replaced the King of Colombian cycling with the Superhero of Colombian cycling. I dare say, it is a match made in heaven. Superman Lopez shall be reliable to either sneak his way onto many a Grand Tour podium anonymously or light up multiple high mountain stages where he seems to fly away up the climbs wearing a metaphorical cape like his namesake. And please excuse this rude tongue-and-cheek comment I cannot pass up: he is reliable to stand on the Grand Tour podiums, but his time-trialing is so extremely poor than he is also reliable to never win one of them…and thus he is the perfect fit for Movistar, for surely that was their biggest problem for all of the Quintana years as well. Yes, alas! I do not think Superman Lopez is the prefect package to help Movistar win the Tour de France, but that does not mean he is a bad signing….quite the contrary, on his best days Superman Lopez is one of my favorite riders to watch, and he has the best nickname in cycling right at this moment. I wish him absolutely the best, this really does seem like the team where he belongs—even though he called them “idiots” during the 2019 Vuelta—and with his signing, I feel Movistar dispels much of the shadow left by their departed former titans.
And yet, despite the signing of Superman Lopez, Movistar is still clearly in year two of this rebuilding project. Last year, with the departure of their older premiere headliners who tied up so much budget, they were replaced by a multitude of young talent….and most interestingly the cast was extremely international, departing from their Spanish or Spanish-speaking roots. Brit Gabriel Cullaigh, American Matteo Jorgenson, Norwegian Mathias Norsgaard, German Juri Hommann, Swiss Johan Jacobs are all back for another year with young Colombians Einer Augusto Rubio and Juan Diego Alba. All are talents under 25 years old, which shall pan out? Surely there is talent here, and surely in this rebuild Movistar must be figuring out how best to make them gel, how best to facilitate success and breed a winning culture again…for O! too often during those Quintana years, surely, all realized the team was mostly too much cobbled together talent with too little cohesion to win the day. And with this year’s signing of Ivan Garcia Cortina perhaps they have found a young Spanish leader to be competitive in Northern Classics this year where historically Spaniards have so often wilted in the past.
Yes, it is a great time of transition at Movistar this year. Perhaps not all the eyes of the cycling world will be on them any longer, but this I think shall prove a pivotal year in their trajectory for the whole next decade perhaps. Which of their young talents shall get results? How much will Mas and Soler improve this year? Shall Superman have such a strong team lineup that he may be able to win a non-time-trailing-heavy Grand Tour? And what of their talisman, their ancient elder, their leader through and through? Is this really Valverde’s last season? If so, how many beloved swansong victories shall he take?
Cycling Odysseys 