MADRID, 21 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
This Thursday, the Movistar Team presented its structures for the 2024 season, the year of the centenary of Telefónica, its main sponsor, and in which it will have “many new features” in its ranks, with Enric Mas as the main asset for the Tour de France, the Colombian Nairo Quintana as leader of the Giro d’Italia and both together in La Vuelta, and with the German Liane Lippert as the new leader of the ranks, replacing the retired Annemiek van Vleuten.
Present at the presentation of the two teams were the president of Telefónica, José María Álvarez; former cyclists Annemiek van Vleuten, Imanol Erviti and José Joaquín Rojas, Eusebio Unzué, General Manager of Movistar Team, and Javier Guillén, the general director of Unipublic.
The Movistar Team will have 45 cyclists, 30 men and 15 women. Enric Mas; Nairo Quintana; Alex Aranburu; Jorge Arcas; Jon Barrenetxea; Will Barta; Carlos Canal; Rémi Cavagna; Davide Formolo; Iván García Cortina; Fernando Gaviria; Ruben Guerreiro; Johan Jacobs; Oier Lazkano; Manlius Moro; Gregor Mühlberger; Mathias Norsgaard Nelson Oliveira; Antonio Pedrero; Vinicius Rangel; Ivan Romeo Javier Romo; Einer Rubio; Sergio Samitier; Gonzalo Serrano; Iván Ramiro Sosa; Pelayo Sánchez; Albert Torres; Davide Cimolai and Lorenzo Milesi will form the men’s team.
For its part, the women’s team will be composed of Aude Biannic; Jelena Eric; Mareille Meijering; Laura Ruiz Lucia Ruiz; Sheyla Gutierrez; Liane Lippert; Claire Steels; Floortje Mackaij; Sara Martin; Emma Norsgaard; Olivia Barril; Paula Patiño and Arlenis Sierra.
The general manager of Movistar Team, Eusebio Unzué, highlighted that they come “from the Calpe concentration” and there they have finalized “all the team’s calendars.” “Nairo Quintana will be our leader in Italy and Enric Mas in the Tour, both will also be in La Vuelta a España,” he confirmed at the presentation of the Movistar Team.
“It’s going to be a year with a lot of new things and new faces, the farewell to Annemiek, who has made us live three years achieving things and careers. The return of Nairo, we hope he will be a man who will provide experience and help us achieve great things for sure “, he pointed.
In the men’s team, Enric Mas will be the main team leader again. “I only ask not to have the bad luck of last year, we have a very big responsibility carrying this ‘M’ on our chest and we hope to perform very well in the Tour and in La Vuelta to be able to wear that red jersey and end up winning it,” he stressed.
“Nairo Quintana started here and became great. I think he will contribute a lot to us with his experience and quality, he has won so many things and he will continue to be great here,” said the Spaniard about the Colombian’s return.
Precisely, he is clear that he is “enormously grateful and excited” for this return to a team with which he won La Vuelta and the Giro. “I will do this new season with what has always been my brand and I carry it, like many teammates, in my heart,” he recalled.
“I have to be honest and I have to find myself again. I have done the Giro a few times and we are at home in the Vuelta. We will be 100 years old and it is a great responsibility to make a great team with Enric,” he said.
In the women’s section, the Spanish team has lost its great reference, Annemiek van Vleuten, who at 41 years old decided to retire and was honored at the event. “For me, these three years were a challenge, now there is a much higher level in the women’s team and winning everything is a perfect experience for me,” she said. “This team has a lot of potential, we have a lot of options, personally I am excited and ready,” warned Liane Lippert, who will be the theoretical new team leader.
Finally, the president of Telefónica, José María Álvarez Pallete, stressed that “it is a special day” and that his company is a company “with soul” and that is why it is on its way to 100 years. “It is a pride for the way in which he has achieved his successes, for winning everything and for having allowed us as a team to reach the highest level,” he concluded.
2023-12-21 15:00:04
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