Ruben Guerreiro set to step up Movistar Team’s hopes

Second men's signing for 2023

28-year-old Portuguese, an explosive, solid climber, set to bring his WorldTour quality to Telefónica’s team for the next three years.

After this morning’s first announcement of its 2023 men’s ‘Signing Day’ with the arrival of Iván Romeo, the Movistar Team also confirms on Wednesday a second reinforcement for next year: Ruben Guerreiro (Montijo, POR; 1994), a current member of the EF Education-EasyPost squad. The Portuguese rider has inked a three-year contract that will see him ride for the Blues through 31st December 2025.

Guerreiro with the Points jersey of the 2022 Vuelta a Burgos. (c) Sprint Cycling Agency

Ruben joins the Movistar Team in arguably his best moment as a professional rider, with six years of WorldTour experience -acquired between EF (2020-22), Katusha (2019) and Trek (2017-18), following his UCI debut with Axeon (2015-16)- where he’s shown his quality uphill and his strong punch. National road race champion in 2017, he’s got five Grand Tour appearances under his belt, with two top-20 finishes (17th in the 2019 La Vuelta; 18th in the 2021 Tour de France) and a remarkable 2020 Giro d’Italia, winning the KOM jersey after a resounding breakaway success on stage nine atop Roccaraso, his best as a pro.

Guerreiro has completed his most consistent season in 2022. Winner of the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge, almost a minute ahead of second on the slopes of the ‘Giant of Provence’, he also finished on the GC podium (3rd) at the Deutschland-Tour; took 4th atop Jebel Jais in the UAE Tour; finished 6th in the Vuelta a Burgos -and 2nd in the Alto del Castillo-; 7th in the Flèche Wallonne; and 9th in the Critérium du Dauphiné. Results which make evident how strong he can be at the most demanding scenarios in the WorldTour.

On his way to Ventoux glory. (c) Sprint Cycling Agency

QUOTES / Ruben Guerreiro:

“The Movistar Team is a squad I’ve admired deeply since I was a kid, one of my favourite ones, and having the chance to join them makes me really happy and excited. I’m willing to confirm my strength as a rider with them; I feel I haven’t reached my full potential yet, and these next few years could be my best as a rider. I’ve got great expectations for the next three years, and would like to extract my best as a climber, both in the Grand Tours, one-week races and tough one-day classics like the Ardennes, which I like so much. A big challenge for the future? Hopefully achieve some good overall results in the Giro d’Italia or La Vuelta, which are two of my favourite ones. You never know — what I know is that I’ll give my all for this team!”