Movistar have jointly announced their teams for the upcoming Tour de France and Giro d'Italia Donne, with Spaniard Enric Mas heading up the men's squad for the Tour while two-time Giro winner Annemiek Van Vleuten leads the women's squad in Italy.
Van Vleuten, who won the Giro Donne back-to-back in 2018 and 2019, will be joined in the six-woman squad by Emma Norsgaard, Arlenis Sierra, Paula Patiño, Jelen Erić, and Aude Biannic.
39-year-old Van Vleuten has taken four wins so far in 2022, including the Setmana Valenciana, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and a stunning solo victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Sierra, who has enjoyed a strong opening half of the season, will be among Movistar's key support riders as Van Vleuten seeks another overall title.
The Cuban won the Vuelta Andalucía last month, taking two stages along the way, before going on to take road race gold at the Pan-American Championships. 22-year-old Norsgaard has also impressed this season, winning Le Samyn, taking third overall at the RideLondon Classique, and successfully defending her Danish time trial title.
In France, meanwhile, Mas will take on his fourth Tour de France start as he seeks a podium spot following fifth- and sixth-place finishes in the past two editions.
The 27-year-old Spaniard has two Vuelta a España podiums to his name but hasn't enjoyed the strongest start to 2022, with ninth at Itzulia Basque Country and fourth at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana his top results so far this season.
Mas raced the Critérium du Dauphiné earlier this month but crashed on the penultimate stage and didn't finish the race. Earlier this week, Movistar confirmed that he has signed a contract extension with the team taking him through to the end of the 2025 season.
Dauphiné stage winner Carlos Verona and fellow Spaniard Gorka Izagirre will be expected to provide key mountain support for Mas in France. So too will American Matteo Jorgenson, who has showed his climbing chops this season with a fourth place at the Tour de la Provence and 13th at the Dauphiné.
Time triallist Nelson Oliveira and veteran workhorse Imanol Erviti also make the cut, while Albert Torres and Gregor Mühlberger round out the eight-man Tour selection.
The Giro d'Italia Donne kicks off with a 4.7km prologue in Cagliari on Thursday, June 30. The Tour de France begins with a 13.7km time trial in Copenhagen on Friday.
Movistar Team for the 2022 Tour de France
- Enric Mas
- Imanol Erviti
- Gorka Izagirre
- Matteo Jorgenson
- Gregor Mühlberger
- Nelson Oliveira
- Albert Torres
- Carlos Verona
Movistar Team for the 2022 Giro d'Italia Donne
- Annemiek van Vleuten
- Aude Biannic
- Jelena Erić
- Emma Norsgaard
- Paula Patiño
- Arlenis Sierra
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Daniel Ostanek is production editor at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired as staff writer. Prior to joining the team, he had written for most major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly, Rouleur, and CyclingTips.
Daniel has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France and the spring Classics, and has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Mark Cavendish, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.
As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Daniel also runs The Leadout newsletter and oversees How to Watch guides throughout the season. His favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Volta a Portugal, and he rides a Colnago C40.