A LEGEND IN THE VELODROMES. Such is the consideration deserved by Spaniard Albert Torres’ brilliant feats, thirteen times on the podium of Euro and World Champs and six times gold medalist at the Omnium and Madison events, including a rainbow jersey in Cali (2014). At both races -supported at the Madison by Sebastián Mora, who also joined the Movistar Team in 2020-, the Balearic rider will aspire to crown what has already been an illustrious track career – a medal in the Tokyo Olympics would be the icing.
GLOBETROTTER. He’s fought for nearly a decade to earn his current chance in the WorldTour. Having been a stagiaire for both the Geox (2011) and Androni (2012) squads, he spent two years with the Team Ecuador; later made part of British outfit Raleigh (2016), where he shared teams with Mora, before the Rio Olympics; and embarked into a Dominican adventure with Inteja (2017-2018) before racing in the velodromes in 2019 with no UCI road squad. Now, he enjoys the best conditions available as part of the Movistar Team.
REALLY EARNED HIS CURRENT SPOT. Other than his track efforts, Torres consolidates in 2020 his place into the Movistar Team with excellent performances as a luxury domestique in flat stages, where his work to keep team leaders more comfortable is much appreciated. His talents have been praised publicly by the likes of Valverde (“Wish we had learned about him earlier”) or Sciandri (“A rider so difficult to find at teams nowadays, a really important piece”). He made his Grand Tour debut in the Giro -where he even placed 7th in Asti (st. 19)- and competed in other WorldTour events such as UAE, Tirreno or Poland (6th and 10th at two sprints), always with exquisite professionalism.
The brief quarantine the riders of the 2020 UAE Tour suffered due to the first COVID-19 cases in the peloton led Torres to a last-minute rush to reach the Berlin Track Worlds: he left the hotel at midnight -as soon as the authorities allowed the Movistar Team hotel to be opened-; flew immediately from UAE to Turkey, with a very early-morning scale; and reached Germany just few hours before a 3pm race start. All of that, to continue improving his chemistry with Mora en route to Tokyo.
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- 2020 European Madison champion.
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- During his Giro d’Italia debut.
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- Leading Valverde and Soler out in Mallorca.
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- The dream of glory in Tokyo.
