8th April 2018
Women’s outfit claims first ever success with Mavi García at Spanish National Series’ opener in Noja, Cantabria; Andrey Amador leads one-two with Valverde at Klasika Primavera in Amorebieta
Sunday 8th April 2018 will remain forever as a big part of the Movistar Team’s history. The Telefónica-backed women’s squad has obtained its first ever victory with Mavi García’s solo success at the Trofeo Villa de Noja, first round of the Spanish Racing Series. And few minutes later, Andrey Amador obtained the men’s squad’s 13th triumph in 2018 with a sensational display at the Klasika Primavera Amorebieta.
In both races, the Movistar Team was the absolute dominator of the event. Over in Cantabria, the seven ladies directed by Jorge Sanz –García, Merino, Llamas, Oyarbide, Teruel, Alicia González and Gloria Rodriguez– selected a strong, 130-rider peloton and controlled the pace before Mavi García’s attack into the third of four laps of the 90km course. There, the Spanish allrounder quickly built a massive, four-minute gap, which her team-mates defended well at the first pursuit group. The Movistar Team, which also conquered the QOM classification with Mavi herself, as well as the Sprints competition with Oyarbide -not to forget Alicia González’s 4th spot-, will now head towards its next challenge in the international peloton: the Ardennes trio, with Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (all part of the UCI Women’s WorldTour).
At the Klasika Primavera in Amorebieta, Costa Rican Andrey Amador got back to winning ways almost six years after his maiden pro success –the Cervinia stage of the 2012 Giro d’Italia–, coming to the finish line in Zornotza together with team leader Alejandro Valverde. Both jumped away from the field with 20km from the finish following great work from their team-mates Castrillo, Anacona, Valls, Rubén Fernandez and Carlos Betancur, whose 4th-place finish inside a five-man group after the two Blues crowned a splendid race from the whole Telefónica-backed squad.
Mavi García: “I’m really happy, especially considering that this is the Movistar Team’s first ever win. This is a race that I really like, it usually is held first at the Spanish Racing Series calendar, and I claimed the win here two years ago. To be honest, any of my team-mates could have won this race, because all of them rode impressively. With a squad like this, everything becomes easier. When you get one from the team into a break, the rest of the squad can keep an eye on our rivals and it makes easier for you to open a gap. When I went solo I was able to build a huge gap quickly, but I didn’t want to relax – you can have all sorts of problems and it’s not allowed to remain calm until you’ve crossed the finish!
“Leading the Series classification is nice, but it won’t get our minds off the real goal for this season, which is performing strong on international races. Of course we’ll be riding the Spanish Cup’s races, but our priority remains to do well abroad and compete against the best riders in the world. My next goal will be the Ardennes classics – I’ll be riding all three: Amstel, Flèche and Liège – and then get ready for the Emakumeen Bira. It’s finally a WWT event this year and it will be one of my biggest goals in 2018.
“It would have been very difficult for this project to do things even better than right now. We’ve got almost all riders fighting for the best races in Spain until last year aboard, but above that, we’ve got a group with gets on well with each other. The atmosphere is incredible and that makes easier for us to work hard for each other when it’s required. We’re so grateful to Telefónica and the whole Movistar Team for giving us this chance.”
Andrey Amador: “I’m super happy – I almost can’t believe I’ve won, because I had spent so much time without a victory. However, I knew I had things right, trained so hard in the winter – I just needed some good luck. I crashed hard in Harelbeke, hurt my ribs, wasn’t able to do well in he first classics and ended up missing both De Ronde and Roubaix. But see, I was then taken to an alternate calendar after this and, I’ve just taken this win in Amorebieta… Just incredible!
“The team was sensational today, and the first thing I’ve got to do is thank them all, and especially Alejandro. He’s a big champion, but above all, a great man. He didn’t want the victory, otherwise I’d have finished second! (laughs). We controlled the race well, made a big selection into the first couple of climbs and I got into a group of four, five riders. I decided to accelerate later on and once I was alone, I just continued to push. I saw Alejandro coming back, waited for him and we covered those last kilometers together.
“This victory really makes me confident for what’s to come. Now it’s time to work hard for Alejandro in the Ardennes, and then ride the Tour de Romandie. I did some good preparations for this first half of the season and feel strong, both my legs and my mind. I just lacked that extra luck, and it finally came today. This victory goes to my little baby, Gretta. She’s changed everything in my life, and made me focus even more and try to be an example for her in every single aspect.”
