Movistar Team will be riding their first World Tour calendar races on European turf from Sunday. The squad led by Eusebio Unzué will split up into two blocks for France and Italy to take part in Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, the two traditional stageraces that mark the opening of the top-competition calendar in the international scene.

Starting on Sunday 6th and covering eight stages, the 69th Paris-Nice will catch main attention from world cycling during the last four stages -three mountainous ones plus and a 27km individual time trial- that will decide its outcome. Movistar Team, led by Yvon Ledanois on French soil, will search for winning chances with José Joaquín Rojas, Xavi Tondo, Sergio Pardilla, David López, Luis Pasamontes, Iván Gutiérrez, Pablo Lastras and Chente García Acosta. Beñat Intxausti, whose troubles due to a flu have avoided him taking part in a race highlighted in his season schedule, will not be part of the 8-man group.

In turn, for the 46th Tirreno-Adriatico, José Luis Jaimerena will be directing a Movistar Team roster composed by Fran Ventoso, David Arroyo, Marzio Bruseghin, Andrey Amador, Iganatas Konovalovas, Vasil Kiryienka, Ángel Madrazo and Branislau Samoilau. The “Corsa dei Due Mari” starts on Wednesday 9th with a 16km team time trial on Tuscan soil, finishing on Thursday 15th with another race against the clock, this time individually, of just 10km in San Benedetto del Tronto, on the shore of the Adriatic sea. Two hard stages will be waiting along the way -the ones ridden on the weekend- with several categorized climbs and no less than 240km to be ridden on both.