29 years in the peloton – Oscar Sevilla and Francisco Mancebo continue racing into their 50s

Spanish racers Oscar Sevilla and Francisco Mancebo will both continue racing next season, remaining in the professional peloton into their 50s.

The veterans have both been racing since the late 1990s, with Sevilla turning pro for Kelme in 1998 and Mancebo doing the same for Banesto the same year. Their new contracts mean they'll race their 29th seasons in the peloton.

The pair are both survivors in the sport, having raced on numerous teams across several continents. They continued competing after being implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal in 2006. The case marked the end of their stints among the European cycling elite.

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Sevilla, who turns 50 next September, has extended his contract with Medellín-EPM for another season, having raced for the Colombian Continental team since 2013.

Mancebo, meanwhile, will race on for the Chinese Continental team Pingtan International Tourism Island Cycling Team, having competed for the Japanese squad Matrix Powertag for the past seven seasons.

Sevilla, who finished on the podium of the 2001 Vuelta a España, will remain in Colombia, where he's been based since 2011. Previously, he had raced for Kelme, Phonak, T-Mobile, Relax, and Rock Racing before serving a doping ban after testing positive for hydroxyethyl starch in 2010.

"I'll keep racing next year," Sevilla told Marca. "When it becomes difficult for me to get up and train, I'll retire. That moment, for now, hasn't arrived."

His last pro win came at the 2023 Tour of Hainan, though he did win an amateur stage race in the Dominican Republic back in March.

Several outlets had reported that Mancebo would retire at the end of the 2025 season, with last month's Tour de Kyushu being his final race. However, he stated on social media after the race that, "I haven't said anything about retiring yet."

He'll race on in China in 2026 for the 13th team of a career which has taken him to teams in Spain, France, Portugal, the USA, Greece, the UAE, the Dominican Republic, and Japan.

Mancebo, who was once upon a time a Grand Tour challenger with a string of top 10s at the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, is still winning as his 50th birthday approaches. His most recent win came back in January on stage 1 of the Tour du Sahel in Mauritania.