Valverde leads 2012 debut roster
03 January 2012

Tour Down Under

Spaniard to return competing one year and a half after his stop on Australian soil, heads top-level squad also featuring Blue debutant Javi Moreno

Movistar Team has unveiled its 7-man squad for the team’s first outing in their new 2012 jersey to be presented Wednesday in Madrid. The 14th Tour Down Under (January 17-22), first UCI WorldTour race of the season preceeded by the traditional Down Under Classic (Sunday 15th), will see Alejandro Valverde put an end to his one-and-a-half-year stop.

The Murcian will be the most remarkable name into the expedition departing on Sunday to Australia and led by José Luis Arrieta, with several names already used to the high temperatures the peloton will find Down Under. José Joaquín Rojas (3rd in 2009), Iván Gutiérrez, Ángel Madrazo, Imanol Erviti, David López and another Blue debutant, Javi Moreno, complete the roster.

The 6-day race will find an attractive decider in its 2012 edition with the short, steep mountain finish in Old Willunga Hill (Saturday 21st), the end of a 151-kilometer Queen stage starting in McLaren Vale and climbing across the finish with 22k from the finish. The arrival to Stirling (Wednesday 18th) will be the other challenging point of a race suited for sprinters.