Dispatch From Movistar Team Launch; Least Expected Day 2 Confirmed
On Thursday, Movistar held its 2021 team launch and we were there, or at least as “there” as you can be in January 2021. Which mostly means that we dialed into a videoconference and listened to people speak Spanish for a bit. We’re on the fence about these fully digital events: they’re cheaper to attend, but there aren’t any vol-au-vents being handed out.
2021, shockingly, is the team’s 42nd consecutive year in the pro peloton. That makes them the longest standing major team, and, somewhat presumptuously, they also told us it makes them the “most famous.”
The major part of the presentation was the team unveiling its largest ever squad of riders, 43 in total. Or 44 if you consider that Alejandro Valverde is now twice the age of anyone else in the peloton. You can watch it here if you’ve got a spare 100 minutes to waste.
We definitely do not have 100 minutes to waste on rewatching this thing, so apologies if they threw goatse in halfway through or something.
The Riders
There are 43 riders on the squad this year, which is just ridiculous. They prepared us a handout, but we can’t copy-paste it and anyway it includes bullshit like the riders’ social media accounts. So here’s a literally unreadable screenshot.
And here’s a link to the full roster PDF.
The most exciting about the Movistar team at the moment is its growing women’s squad, which is better than ever for 2021. The clear highlight is Annemiek van Vleuten, current European road race champion, and easily the best rider in the women’s peloton. Other new arrivals include the American Leah Thomas, Sara Martín, and Emma Norsgaard. The women’s team competes in the Women’s WorldTour, and now has 14 riders.
We probably also have to talk about the men’s squad so we don’t get any hate mail from MRAs who’re upset that we’ve only mentioned ovary-havers so far. Here goes. Five riders are new for 2021: Gonzalo Serrano, Gregor Mühlberger, Abner González (the first ever WorldTour rider from Puerto Rico), Iván García Cortina, and Miguel Ángel López. Marc Soler and Enric Mas continue to lead the team, and Alejandro Valverde is still lingering around the front of the peloton at the ripe old age of 41.
The Least Expected Day Season 2
And in other news, which probably should’ve been its own article but then we’d have to hit the ‘publish’ button two times in a day, the team announced a second season of documentary series The Least Expected Day. It was a surprising highlight on Netflix for reasons that Movistar describe as “unprecedented transparency and realism,” and what we’d describe as sulky babies losing grand tours.
Season Two will air this spring and focus on the team’s 2020 season. Despite their pretty good season, it’s surely going to be about 50% Covid content. Do you want to relive the early days of the pandemic? Maybe. We might be nostalgic for it by then, especially if things somehow get worse in 2021.
And Another Thing
They also announced the imminent launch of the Movistar Team Challenge, a virtual cycling initiative in collaboration with Global Cycling Network and Zwift. It’ll span the next month and a half, and we won’t write another word about it unless someone tests positive for EPO or shits themselves live on air.
Movistar said the event will “make possible for ten riders -five women, five men- to become the first ever to defend the Blue colours at the Zwift Racing League, the world’s biggest esports cycling event.” Whatever that means.