Havana, 28.12. – The icon Movistar teamthe “Dean” club of the world racing circuit noted the presence of the Cuban Arlenis Sierramultiple Pan American Champion and international elite racers, for the season beginning in January.
These days, the Telefónica-sponsored team held the official award ceremony for their women’s and men’s cycling teams for 2023 in the auditorium of the company’s headquarters in Madrid.
Dutch Olympic champion Annemiek van Vleuten, winner in 2022 of the Giro (Italy), Tour (France), La Vuelta (Spain) and the World Championship (Australia), number one in the world and recently awarded the first Vélo d’ Award Or, will once again be the leader.
The block of 15 riders has “the outstanding presence of Pan-American Champion Arlenis Sierra; the young Dane Emma Norsgaard; two of the most important Spanish references, Sheyla Gutiérrez and Sara Martín; and two strong additions for 2023,” emphasizes the blue team’s directive on its official website.
The signings are German champion Liane Lippert, a great climber and one of the most prominent on the World Tour, and Dutchman Floortje Mackaij, “outstanding all-rounder who completes one of the best rosters in the world”.
The men’s squad now consists of 30 people, the first in almost two decades without Alejandro Valverde, a cycling legend who retired earlier this year.
2023 sees the 44th season in a row for the most experienced international squad, with more than a thousand wins, 46 of them in a roaring 2022.
The Movistar team will debut in 2023 in Men’s Criterion (short-distance, generally urban racing) ahead of the Tour Down Under, the first event of the annual World Tour, in Adelaide, Australia on Saturday 14 January.
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The sixth season of the women’s team begins on Sunday 29th in Andalusia, Spain at the Costa de Almería Women Sport, the inauguration of a calendar that includes around 350 days of competition between the two teams in Europe, America and Asia-Pacific.