Chasing stages and climbing onto the podium: Enric Mas leads an ambitious Movistar Team for the 2026 Giro d'Italia

The Movistar Team has already defined its roadmap for the first major objective of the season. The telephone squad has confirmed the block of eight riders with which it will face the Giro d'Italia 2026, an edition that will kick off on May 8 in Nessebar, Bulgaria, and will once again close the curtain in Rome after three weeks of competition.

The Movistar Team is presented for the Giro d'Italia 2026

The team presents a lineup that mixes very different profiles, with the intention of covering all the scenarios that a race increasingly open in its approach proposes. The leadership will fall on Enric Mas, who faces the Corsa Rosa for the first time at a key moment in his career and with a calendar change that breaks with his usual double Tour-Vuelta.

Alongside Mas, the team has built a versatile eight that combines climbers, rouleurs, and fast riders. Einer Rubio and Javier Romo will be two of the key pieces in the mountains, especially in a route that bets again on long stages and accumulation of elevation gain.

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For the more open finishes and unpredictable days, the team will count on the profile of Iván García Cortina, while Orluis Aular will offer a clear option in mass arrivals, a terrain where Movistar has not always had a presence in grand tours.

The block is completed with the balance provided by Lorenzo Milesi, a time trial specialist, Juan Pedro López, who already knows what it is like to wear the leader's jersey in Italy, and Nelson Oliveira, one of the most reliable riders on the team in control and protection of the leader.

A different Giro that opens more scenarios

The unprecedented start in Bulgaria introduces a new element in the narrative of the Giro. Not only because of the geographical change but also because of how it conditions the first week of racing, traditionally decisive to avoid time losses and position oneself in the general classification.

Movistar arrives with the intention of not limiting itself to a single script. The presence of riders with freedom to move in breaks or contest stages fits with a route that alternates high mountain days with broken profiles and constant traps.

Mas, between the general classification and offensive ambition

The focus will be on Enric Mas, who will debut in the Giro with an approach that mixes ambition and realism. In previous statements, Enric Mas himself already hinted that his goal was to win a stage and get on the Giro podium, a combination that forces the team to manage different race scenarios.

This dual objective fits with the type of rider Mas is, more solid in prolonged efforts than in explosiveness, and with a route that offers several stages of accumulated fatigue where he can make a difference if he manages to arrive well positioned for the last week.

The lineup reflects a clear idea. Movistar does not want to depend exclusively on the general classification. The team seeks to have a presence in all terrains, from sprints to high mountains, without giving up the fight for the podium.