Starting tomorrow, an action packed week lies ahead for the Spanish Movistar team which will have teams participating in races in three different countries simultaneously.
Rui Costa will spearhead the ProTeam at the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal whereas Italian rider Giovanni Visconti heads to France for the two-day event Tour du Haut Var-matin. At the same time, local hero Alejandro Valverde will be in search of his second consecutive Vuelta a Andalucía win.
"After its victorious European debut with Alejandro Valverde's win at the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana in the Majorca Challenge, Movistar Team kicks-off on Thursday with seven hectic days of competition that will lead the telephone squad into ten racing days and three different countries," said a press release from the team.
In Portugal Costa will enjoy the support of an all-rounder cast consisting of Jonathan Castroviejo, Alex Dowsett ,José and Jesús Herrada, Vladimir Karpets and Enrique Sanz.
The two-day Tour du Haut Var-matin sees the return to action of Visconti after he opened his season at the Tour Down Under. Visconti didn’t have the best of season openers, crashing badly towards the end of Stage 2 at the Tour Down Under.
Last but not least, team captain Alejandro Valverde leads Movistar’s best chance for overall success at Andalucía. Last year Valverde narrowly edged out Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) and Jerome Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) who finished 2nd and 3rd within 10 seconds of Valverde.
Movistar lineup for Vuelta a Andalucía - Ruta Ciclista Del Sol: Alejandro Valverde, José Ivan Gutierrez, Javier Moreno, Ruben Plaza, Nairo Quintana, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Imanol Erviti
20.04: EPZ Omloop van Borsele |
17.04 - 21.04: Tour de Tunisie |
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19.04 - 21.04: EPZ Omloop van Borsele |
20.04 - 21.04: Gipuzkoa Klasika |
21.04: Liège-Bastogne-Liège |
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Ben BOETS 29 years | today |
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