Movistar announced this Monday the team that will compete in the Tour of Spain that starts on August 19 in Utrecht (The Netherlands). Among the chosen riders will be Alejandro Valverde, who will say goodbye to competitions on Spanish soil before hanging up the bike at the end of 2022 at the age of 42.
The leader of the Spanish team for the third big race will be Enric Mas, second last year and one of the favorites to win the Spanish event in its 77th edition. The Majorcan will try to get even from a Tour to forget that he finally could not finish by testing positive for covid before the nineteenth stage.
For his part, Valverde has left behind the accident he suffered on home soil. He has already disputed the classic one in San Sebastián, the one in Getxo and the Vuelta a Burgos. He hopes to play a good role in saying goodbye to him in the Vuelta, winner in 2009 and winner of twelve stages throughout his career.
"The latest in a long history in the Vuelta. You want to enjoy it from the first day to the last and to complete a good race with Movistar," he wrote on his Twitter account.
The group chaired by Eusebio Unzué will form, in addition to 'Bala' and Enric Mas, second classified in 2021-, Carlos Verona, José Joaquín Rojas, Nelson Oliveira, Mathias Norsgaard, Gregor Mühlberger and Lluís Mas.
Two time trial -the inaugural, by teams, of 23 km; and the second, individual, 30 km between Elche and Alicante- and abundant mountains between the north (Pico Jano, Fancuaya, Les Praeres), Andalusia (Hoya de la Mora, La Pandera, Peñas Blancas) and the Plateau (Tentudía, Piornal , Guadarrama) will mark the course of the last Grand Tour of the year, which ends on September 11 in Madrid.
