Movistar Team () is a professional

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The ...

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

which participates at

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...

level and has achieved thirteen general classification (GC) victories in Grand Tours. The title sponsor is the Spanish mobile telephone company

Telefónica , S.A. () is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company with registered office and headquarters located in two different places, both in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the ...

, with the team riding under the name of the company's brand ''

Movistar Movistar () is a major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, Mobile telephony, mobile services, and pay television (Movistar Plus+ ...

''. The team was formed as '' Reynolds'', led by Ángel Arroyo and later by Pedro Delgado, who won a

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

and a

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

, and was subsequently sponsored by '' Banesto'', under which name the team included five-time Tour de France winner

Miguel Induráin Miguel Induráin Larraya (; born 16 July 1964) is a retired Spanish road racing cyclist. Induráin won five Tours de France from 1991 Tour de France, 1991 to 1995 Tour de France, 1995, the fourth, and last, to win five times, and the only five- ...

and Alex Zülle, twice winner of the Vuelta a España. The team offices are in Egüés, in

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

, Spain. A later sponsor was Caisse d'Épargne, a French semi-cooperative banking group. Having previously used Pinarello bikes, the team rode Canyon frames in 2014, with

Campagnolo Campagnolo is an Italian manufacturer of high-end bicycle components with headquarters in Vicenza, Italy. The components are organised as groupsets (gruppi), and are a near-complete collection of a bicycle's mechanical parts. Campagnolo's flagsh ...

parts. Since 2008, Eusebio Unzué has been the manager of the team after the long running manager, José Miguel Echavarri, retired from the sport. The directeurs sportifs of the team are José Vicente García, Pablo Lastras, José Luis Jaimerena, Patxi Vila and

Max Sciandri Maximilian Sciandri (born 15 February 1967) is a retired Great Britain, British road racing cyclist of Italy, Italian descent. He competed as an Italian national up to February 1995, then took British citizenship. He won the bronze medal in the ...

History

Reynolds (1980–1989)

The team began in 1980 as the Reynolds team which José Miguel Echavarri as the directeur sportif. In 1982 signed a young Pedro Delgado who acted as a domestique for team leader Ángel Arroyo during the 1982 Vuelta a España. Arroyo won the Vuelta after his team controlled the race after he took the lead. 48 hours after his Vuelta win, the results of a positive test were made known for

Methylphenidate Methylphenidate, sold under the brand names Ritalin ( ) and Concerta ( ) among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. It may be taken Oral adm ...

(Ritalin). Arroyo and the Reynolds team denied that Arroyo doped and asked for a B-analysis which confirmed the positive A-sample. Arroyo became the first winner of the Vuelta a España to be disqualified. Delgado changed teams in 1985 but returned to Reynolds in 1988 where he won the 1988 Tour de France and then the

1989 Vuelta a España The 44th Edition ''Vuelta a España'' (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from 24 April to 15 May 1989. It consisted of 22 stages covering a total of , and was won by Pedro Delgado of the R ...

with the team. In 1984,

made his professional debut with the team.

Banesto (1990–2003)

In 1990, Spanish bank Banesto took over as the main sponsor of the team from Reynolds. Delgado was the team leader for the Tour de France while

and

Julián Gorospe Julián Gorospe Artabe (born 22 March 1960 in Mañaria) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1982 and 1994, entirely for the team. Gorospe also worked as the directeur sportif of between 1998 an ...

were the leaders for the week long stage races. When Gorospe took the lead in that year's Vuelta, the team went behind him in a bid to win the race. Gorospe lost the leader's jersey and Delgado took over the leadership but could not regain the time that Italian Marco Giovannetti had gained and ended the race second overall behind Giovannetti. Over the following years, Indurain rose to become a dominator of stage races winning five editions of the Tour de France and two editions of the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

. Delgado was the team leader for the Vuelta. The team also achieved success with Jean-François Bernard who won the 1992 edition of Paris–Nice with the team. The team won the Vuelta again in 1998 with Abraham Olano. During this time Alex Zülle joined the team and finished the

1999 Tour de France The 1999 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 86th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Ant ...

second overall while climber José María Jiménez performed in the Vuelta a España. The team became known as iBanesto.com in the final years of the sponsorship of the Banesto bank.

Illes Balears (2004–2005)

In 2004,

Illes Balears The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

, the Balearic Island's Tourism Board, became the team's principal sponsor, the team's name was Illes Balears-Banesto until 2005. Caisse d'Epargne took over from Banesto as the second sponsor in the 2005 season, the team was then known as Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne. Caisse d'Epargne then became the main sponsor in 2006 reversing the title sponsor ordering with the name, Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears. The team fielded a number of strong contenders in the

2005 Tour de France The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It took place between 2–24 July, with 21 stages covering a distance . It has no overall winner—although American cyclist ...

including Francisco Mancebo ( former National Champion of Spain),

Alejandro Valverde Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish cyclist, who competed as a professional in road bicycle racing from 2002 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2022, and now competes in gravel cycling for the Movistar Team Gravel Squad. During ...

, Vladimir Karpets and sprinter Isaac Gálvez. Mancebo produced the best results finishing fourth overall in the General Classification.

Caisse d'Epargne (2006–2010)

Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears finished fifth overall (56 minutes, 53 seconds behind Team T-Mobile) in the Team Classification at the

2006 Tour de France The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It took place between the 1st and the 23rd of July. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of Floyd Land ...

. Individually, the team's top rider, Óscar Pereiro, finished in second place. The Tour victory of Phonak rider Floyd Landis was almost immediately called into question, after a urine sample taken after his Stage 17 win twice tested positive for banned synthetic

testosterone Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in Male, males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting se ...

as well as a ratio of

to epitestosterone nearly three times the limit allowed by

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...

rules. After hearing of the positive "A" test, Pereiro stated that it was only an initial, unconfirmed result and he would not yet consider Landis guilty or himself the Tour winner. "I have too much respect for Landis to do otherwise", he said. After hearing that the Landis "B" test also came back positive, Pereiro stated that he now considers himself Tour champion and the Landis scandal should not diminish his own achievement. "Right now I feel like the winner of the Tour de France", Pereiro said. "It's a victory for the whole team." After nearly two years of appeals, Pereiro was officially upgraded to Tour champion for 2006.

Movistar (2011– )

On 31 May 2010, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the appeals from WADA and the UCI regarding the suspension of Alejandro Valverde for his implication in the Operación Puerto doping case. Valverde was banned for two years, starting 1 January 2010 and after serving the two-year suspension returned to competition in 2012 riding for the Movistar Team. The 2011 season proved to be a transitional one for the team, with their first victory coming as a single stage win in the Tour Down Under, courtesy of Francisco José Ventoso. The team found success with stage wins in the

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had ...

and Tour of the Basque Country. The team also won two stages of the

: Ventoso won stage 6 and Vasil Kiryienka won stage 20. The team's final Grand Tour win came courtesy of Rui Costa in the

. The 2012 season saw the team re-establish itself as one of the major general classification contenders. The return of Valverde almost immediately brought the team success with a stage win in the Tour Down Under, followed by the overall win of the Vuelta a Andalucía as well as a stage win. Colombian new recruit Nairo Quintana also brought the team overall victory at the

Vuelta a Murcia The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia () is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs. Originally the race was held in early March and consisted of five stages. However, due to Spain's fina ...

. The team scored multiple overall classification victories; Quintana claimed the Route du Sud, Rui Costa the Tour de Suisse, Javier Moreno the Vuelta a Castilla y León and finally Beñat Intxausti won the Vuelta a Asturias. The team also won stages in all three Grand Tours. The 2013 season closely followed the previous years, Valverde scored multiple early season results with the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana and an overall win in the Vuelta a Andalucía. Quintana further reinforced his potential as a Grand Tour GC rider with the overall win in the Tour of the Basque Country as well as claiming second place in the

, taking the King of the Mountains in addition to the Young rider classification. He further reinforced his reputation as a force to be reckoned with, with an overall win in the Vuelta a Burgos. Intxausti got the team's final overall win of the year and Costa won the UCI World Road Race championships. For the 2014 season the team confirmed that they would shift from Pinarello bikes to Canyon Bicycles. For 2014, the team adopted a 'divide and conquer' based tactic for the season's Grand Tours; first sending Quintana to the Giro, Valverde to the Tour and then finally both riders to the Vuelta. Quintana achieved the team's first victory – winning stage 4 of the Tour de San Luis as well as the overall classification, Adriano Malori also won the individual time trial stage. Once again Valverde won the Vuelta a Andalucía as well as the Vuelta a Murcia, Roma Maxima,

GP Miguel Induráin The Grand Prix Miguel Induráin (), formerly the "Grand Prix Navarre" is a Spanish one-day road bicycle race. History The race was inaugurated in 1951, but was limited to local competition. It was rebranded after Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurái ...

and

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. It is part of the UCI World Tour. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is ...

. In May, Quintana won the team's first Grand Tour since Valverde's 2009 Vuelta victory, the

2014 Giro d'Italia The 2014 Giro d'Italia was the 97th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tour races. The race started off in Belfast, on 9 May, with a team time trial and concluded in Trieste, on 1 June, with a flat st ...

. As with the previous season, Quintana defended his Vuelta a Burgos title winning it for the second straight year. In August 2014, the team announced the signing of Marc Soler () and Rubén Fernández () on a 2-year contract. At the 2015 Tour de France, the team finished first in the teams classification, and the two top men of the team, Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde finished second and third in the general classification, respectively, with Quintana also winning the white jersey as best young rider, and finishing second in the king of the mountains classification. During the 2016 Tour, the team finished first in the teams classification by 8' 14" over Team Sky. Nairo Quintana made the podium by finishing third overall in the general classification standings and Ion Izagirre claimed victory on stage 20. Later during the

2016 Vuelta a España The 2016 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tour cycling stage race that took place in Spain between 20 August and 11 September 2016. The race was the 71st edition of the Vuelta a España and the final Grand Tour of the ...

, Quintana won stage 10 and the overall. The team concluded the year with their fourth win in the team ranking of

2016 UCI World Tour The 2016 UCI World Tour was a competition that included 27 road bicycle racing, road cycling events throughout the 2016 in men's road cycling, 2016 men's cycling season. It was the eighth edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycli ...

. In 2019, Richard Carapaz won the

, and the team won the team classification in all three Grand Tours. The team's season is captured in a documentary series, '' The Least Expected Day: Inside the Movistar Team 2019'', available on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. File:Charla de Pedro Delgado sobre ciclismo - 25110481922 (cropped).jpg, Pedro Delgado showing an old Reynolds jersey in 2016 File:Joan HORRACH RIPPOLL 144 HEW Cyclassics 2005.jpg, Joan Horrach in an Illes Balears jersey at the 2005 HEW Cyclassics

Team roster

Major wins

National, continental and world champions

;1982 : Spain Road Race José Luis Laguía ;1983 : Spain Road Race Carlos Hernández ;1992 : Spain Road Race

;1995 :

World Time Trial

;1997 :

British Road Race

Jeremy Hunt Sir Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2022 to 2024 and Foreign Secretary from 2018 to 2019, having previously served as Secretary of State for Health a ...

: Spain Road Race José María Jiménez ;1998 : Jersey rainbow chrono

World Time Trial Abraham Olano ;2003 : Spain Road Race Rubén Plaza ;2004 : Spain Road Race Francisco Mancebo : Spain Time Trial José Iván Gutiérrez ;2005 : Spain Time Trial José Iván Gutiérrez ;2006 : MaillotFra

France Road Race Florent Brard ;2007 : Spain Road Race Joaquim Rodríguez : Spain Time Trial José Iván Gutiérrez ;2008 : Spain Road Race

: Spain Time Trial Luis León Sánchez ;2010 : Spain Road Race José Iván Gutiérrez : Spain Time Trial Luis León Sánchez : MaillotPortugal

Portugal Time Trial Rui Costa ;2011 : Spain Road Race José Joaquín Rojas ;2012 : Spain Road Race Francisco Ventoso : MaillotBielorrusia

Belarus Time Trial Branislau Samoilau ;2013 : MaillotReinoUnido

British Time Trial Alex Dowsett : Spain Time Trial Jonathan Castroviejo : MaillotPortugal

Portugal Time Trial Rui Costa : Spain Road Race Jesús Herrada : Jersey rainbow

World Road Race Rui Costa ;2014 : Spain Time Trial

: Spain Road Race Ion Izagirre : MaillotItalia

Italy Time Trial Adriano Malori ;2015 : MaillotReinoUnido

British Time Trial Alex Dowsett : MaillotItalia

Italy Time Trial Adriano Malori : Spain Time Trial Jonathan Castroviejo : Spain Road Race

;2016 :

British Time Trial Alex Dowsett : Spain Time Trial Ion Izagirre : MaillotPortugal

Portugal Time Trial Nelson Oliveira : Spain Road Race José Joaquín Rojas : European champion jersey 2016

European Time Trial Jonathan Castroviejo ;2017 : Spain Time Trial Jonathan Castroviejo : Spain Road Race Jesús Herrada ;2018 : Jersey rainbow

World Road Race

;2019 : Spain Road Race

;2020 :

European Track Championships The European Track Cycling Championships are a set of elite level competition events held annually for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling, exclusively for European cyclists, and regulated by the European Cycling Union (UEC) ...

(Madison) Sebastián Mora & Albert Torres : European champion jersey 2016

(Points race) Sebastián Mora ;2021 : MaillotPuertoRico