ATTACHED TO HIS ROOTS. Alex Aranburu has spent his entire life in Ezkio, a small village in the Gipuzkoa mountains of the Basque Country, always with a very active lifestyle. A brother of Mikel, a rally co-driver, he took up all kinds of sports since he was a little child (soccer, basketball, pelota). He got on a bike at age 8, first as mere amusement, then -through cyclo-cross- as a competitive discipline. He combined the mud with the road -he even became Spanish junior road race champion- before taking the step towards amateur racing, first with AMPO and then with Baqué, showing abilities that earned him an early jump towards the pro peloton, as a trainee, with Murias in late 2015.
A SIGNIFICANT STEP EVERY YEAR. In 2016, his debut pro season, he shone in the Tour de l’Avenir, doing well against the top climbers over the legendary Croix-de-Fer (Bernal, Gaudu, Geoghegan Hart, Storer). In 2017, when he joined the Caja Rural squad, he showed himself strong in the Spanish calendar -racing his first Itzulia- and coming close to a maiden win in Rhône-Alpes. In 2018, despite a pre-season injury, he opened his victory account with a strong sprint in Getxo, then went on to 3rd place atop the Castillo de Burgos and completed his first La Vuelta, and in 2019, he doubled his win tally -one stage in Burgos, another one in Madrid- and came twice 2nd at La Vuelta stages. His arrival to the WorldTour, with Astana, saw him shining in Sanremo -7th in 2020-, Het Nieuwsblad -6th in 2021-, the prologue of La Vuelta -2nd in Burgos (2021), only behind Primoz Roglic- or his best victory before joining the Movistar Team: a stage of the Itzulia Basque Country in 2021.
SEEKING FOR THE ELUSIVE VICTORY. He had the chance to open his Movistar Team account with brilliance at the 2022 Tour du Limousin, with a stage win plus the overall, and claim several podiums at Mayenne Wallonie or the Spanish Nationals. In 2023, he chased it again, this time to no avail: came in 2nd at stages of Luxembourg and the Deutschland-Tour; again 3rd in the Nationals; a valuable WorldTour podium in Montréal (3rd) plus 4th in Québec; 7th in San Sebastián; 9th against top-ranked climbers in Valencia… He will surely make up for it in 2024!
