Movistar women's team re-sign core four riders on a two-year deal
Movistar have committed to an additional two years for four of their core riders; Alicia González, Sheyla Gutiérrez, Lourdes Oyarbide and Gloria Rodríguez, who will all stay with the team through 2021. The team's management aim to create a solid foundation as they head into their third season on the Women's WorldTour.
"The contract extensions of these four riders are huge for us, being able to set such a strong foundation for our project in the next two years," said Sebastián Unzué, manager of the women's Movistar Team. "Lourdes, Gloria and Alicia have been with us since the very first year of the team, and re-signing them is a reward to the great job and notable progression they've all followed in the last two seasons."
Rodríguez is one of the team's top rouleurs and González earned the team a podium at its first-ever race together at the 2018 Setmana Valenciana. Oyarbide won the Spanish national road title and a stage of the Vuelta a Burgos. She was also third overall in the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour and sixth in Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa.
Gutierrez joined the team this year after spending three seasons with the American outfit Cylance. This year she had top-10 finishes in Dwars door Vlaanderen, stages of Emakumeen Bira, Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan Dames, and a stage at the OVO Energy Women's Tour. She also won the Spanish national time trial title.
"Having Sheyla with us through 2021 means we're retaining a rider quite different to what's usual in the Spanish peloton," Unzué said. "She's a special one, a woman destined to lead us in the Northern classics, races which she loves and where we'll surely see her fighting for success in the next few years."
The women's program will embark on its third year and has had success in many of the Women's WorldTour events. The team has not yet announced, however, whether they have applied to be among the highest level of women's team in 2020, which will mark the beginning of the new two-tier team structure.
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