Winner and Carlos set to continue

Anacona, Betancur extend their contracts with the Spanish outfit for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

As well as Nairo Quintana, the Movistar Team’s 2018 roster will also rely on other Colombian riders who were part of its ranks during the current season. The squad managed by Eusebio Unzué has signed two-year extensions with Winner Anacona and Carlos Betancur and now has 24 men under contract with 2018, after the signings of Mikel Landa, Jaime Rosón, Eduardo Sepúlveda, Rafa Valls and neo-pro Jaime Castrillo.

Anacona (29), usual training partner of Nairo Quintana in the duo’s hometown Tunja, will fulfil its fourth season in Blue colours after a notable 2017, where he worked hard for Quintana in the Giro d’Italia and still managed to reach 25th place in the individual overall classification. A notable climber and a decent time trialist, he’s got one Grand Tour stage win to his account from the 2014 Vuelta a España.

Betancur (27), now in an advanced state of recovery following his ankle fracture during the recent Vuelta a España -while racing into an elite GC group at early hilly stages in Valenciana-, will seek for a place into the very best of the international peloton in his third season as Movistar Team members. Already in 2017, he shone bright at the opening stage of the Hammer Series, cementing the Blues’ convincing win in Vaals, and confirmed his three-week stagerace potential at the Tour de France (18th) and the Vuelta a España, before the crashed out of the race.