Once a team purely associated with the high mountains and stage races, 2023 has marked a clear shift for Movistar. Gone are the days of them bringing a team of resentful climbers to the cobbled Classics simply because they were required to do so as a WorldTour team, now we are seeing the blue jerseys of the Spanish squad at the front of some of the toughest one-day races in the world.
The breakthrough result was at E3 Saxo Classic, when Matteo Jorgenson and Iván Cortina finished fourth and fifth respectively in the race which is known as a mini Tour of Flanders. The two riders made up the positions behind The Big Three, Tadej Pogačar, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel – a feat unprecedented in Movistar’s history in the sport.
“That was amazing, that is where I want to be in that position, fighting with the three superstars is hard but to be there in fourth and fifth place with both guys from the team is a victory in this case, that’s where I want to be and I’ll keep fighting for that,” Cortina says, looking back on his best ever result in a Classic.
The 27-year-old explains that the last few years have seen a real shift from Movistar in regards to the one-day races, with a young group of riders pushing for modernisation and change.
“The Classics group is a good group, everybody’s young. A few years ago Movistar wouldn’t go to the Classics because they had no riders. Now it’s almost a fight to go to the Classics. Many riders want to go, that’s good because if you go to these races and you don’t want to really do them, this is super hard. It changes your mentality if you like the race and you are going to enjoy it and do your best,” he says.
A few days after Jorgenson and Cortina’s impressive performance at E3 Harelbeke, their teammate, 23-year-old Oier Lazkano, finished in second place in Dwars door Vlaanderen, another unexpected result for the Spanish team.
“We also had Oier with the second place in Dwars door Vlaanderen. Since the first year I’ve come here, now it is different with the materials and tyres, I did push quite a bit to improve that,” Cortina says.
Looking ahead to Paris-Roubaix, Cortina explains he is confident in the team’s abilities after they have put a real effort into optimising their set-up for the hellish cobbles of Northern France.
“We need to have someone in the break, this is quite important because if a rider like Oier could get in the break, for example, he can go to the…