Miguel Angel López and Enric Mas will lead Movistar’s general classification challenge at the Tour de France, while the selection will also feature Alejandro Valverde and Marc Soler.
Iván García Cortina, Carlos Verona, Imanol Erviti and Jorge Arcas complete the eight-man selection, which was announced on Monday. The Spanish team will unveil their new kit for the Tour in a presentation on Tuesday.
López is in his first season at Movistar after joining from Astana last winter. The Colombian placed 6th overall on his Tour debut last September. He won atop the Col de la Loze but dropped off the podium in the final time trial at La Planche des Belles Filles.
His Movistar debut was delayed after he contracted COVID-19 at the start of the season, but he has performed strongly in recent weeks, winning a stage and the overall at the Ruta del Sol as well as the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge. He also placed 6th overall at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Mas placed 5th overall in last year’s Tour and warmed up for this year’s event with 11th at the Dauphiné and third place at the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge.
Valverde is lining out in the 14th Tour of his career. The Spaniard is building towards the Tokyo Olympics and he will target stage victories in France. Valverde was the stage winner when the Tour last started in Brest in 2008.
Soler was Movistar’s leader at the Giro d’Italia but he was forced to abandon after crashing on stage 12 to Bagno di Romagna. He returned to action at the Tour de Suisse earlier this month, placing 79th overall.
