Movistar Team has finalized its lineup for the 2026 Tour de France. Cian Uijtdebroeks will lead a team that combines youth, experience, and talent in the team’s 44th participation in the Grande Boucle.
The other seven cyclists who will represent the Movistar Team during the next three weeks will be Raúl García Pierna, Pablo Castrillo, Einer Rubio, Javier Romo, Nelson Oliveira, Jefferson Cepeda and Michel Hessmann.
The 113th edition of the Tour de France will kick off this Saturday with a 19.4-kilometer team time trial through the streets of Barcelona. This will be the third time the French race has held its Grand Départ in Spain, following San Sebastián (1992) and Bilbao (2023). A regular participant in the Tour since 1983, Movistar Team, the longest-standing team in the professional peloton, has won the race seven times: once with Pedro Delgado (1988), five times with Miguel Induráin (1991-1995), and once with Óscar Pereiro (2006).
Cian Uijtdebroeks
The young Belgian is facing his first Tour de France in a season in which he has confirmed his enormous potential. At 23, Cian has delivered outstanding performances in the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour du Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, where he finished eighth and seventh, respectively, despite a crash in February during the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana disrupting the start of his season.
Considered one of the great talents of international cycling, he already knows what it’s like to compete in a Grand Tour with the best: he was eighth in the 2023 Vuelta a España. He will be the team’s key rider in the fight for the general classification.
Raúl García Pierna
A true all-rounder. Raúl has established himself as one of the most outstanding Spanish cyclists of the moment in a season in which he has already added a stage victory in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. He has also shone in WorldTour races such as the Tour of the Basque Country, where he finished second in a stage, and recently in the Tour du Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, in which he was involved in four breakaways, finished three days in the top ten, and impressed in the mountains.
He will compete in his third Tour de France with the confidence that comes from the progress shown in the last two editions and with the ability to contribute on any terrain.
Pablo Castrillo
Explosiveness and ambition. Pablo arrives at the Tour after being crowned Spanish time trial champion, confirming the progression that already led him to break into the elite with his two stage victories in the 2024 Vuelta a España. In 2026 he was third in the queen stage of the Tour de Romandie and, although some physical discomfort forced him to abandon the Tour de Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, he showed signs of his good form with two breakaways.
At 25 years old, he will face his second Tour de France and the fourth Grand Tour of his career, established as one of the riders with the greatest potential in the Spanish peloton.
Einer Rubio
A reference point in the mountains. Einer returns to competition after a Giro d’Italia in which he once again demonstrated his fighting spirit. He was involved in six breakaways and came close to victory on the Andalo stage, confirming his ability to be a protagonist on the most demanding stages. Recently renewed until 2028, the Colombian will compete in his second Tour de France, having become one of the key riders for Movistar Team.
A proven climber and stage winner in the 2023 Giro d’Italia, the Colombian will make his presence felt on the highest peaks of this Tour de France.
Javier Romo
A rider for any stage. Javier will make his return to a Grand Tour after being forced to abandon the Giro d’Italia due to illness. Now recovered, he returned to competition at the Tour de Suisse. Furthermore, he recently delivered one of the best performances of his career, finishing third on the queen stage of the Tour of the Basque Country.
Romo will face his second Tour de France in full sporting growth and with the experience of having come close to a stage victory in last year’s Vuelta a España, where he was second in Los Corrales de Buelna.
Nelson Oliveira
Our great captain. At 37, Nelson will once again lead the Movistar Team on the road in what will be his 24th Grand Tour: ten Tours de France, four Giros d’Italia, and ten Vueltas a España. An impressive record, to which he adds another truly exceptional fact: he has never abandoned any of them.
After competing in the Giro d’Italia this season, the Portuguese rider will once again be the team’s leader in the decisive moments and one of the pillars of the Telefónica squad.
Jefferson Cepeda
A reliable addition to the mountain team. The Ecuadorian will make his Tour de France debut in what will be the sixth Grand Tour of his career. In 2016, he once again demonstrated his quality with a seventh-place finish in the general classification of the Tour de Romandie, and despite being forced to abandon the Tour du Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes due to the flu that affected the team, he will arrive fully recovered for the start in Barcelona.
A climber of enormous consistency, Jefferson will be a key player in supporting Cian
Uijtdebroeks and strengthening the team in the high mountain stages.
Michel Hessmann
A reward for perseverance. The German has earned a place on the Movistar Team’s eight-man roster thanks to his hard work and consistency during his second season with the team. At 25, he will experience the Tour de France for the first time after having competed in the Giro d’Italia in 2023 and the Vuelta a España in 2025.
His role will be crucial in supporting Cian Uijtdebroeks and providing stability to the team during the three weeks of competition, as he has been doing throughout the year. Michel has also just extended his contract with Movistar Team until 2027.
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