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, was more than deserved. With the Kazakh squad, he showed an impressive level in scenarios as diverse as 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, showing his excellent strategic skills into a late breakaway. There’s nothing this young man can’t do!

QUALITY AGAINST ADVERSITY. In his first year with the Telefónica-backed squad, Aranburu had to cover a difficult role for the team: chasing results, and points, against the difficult situation the Movistar Team got themselves into during the second half of 2022. And it was hard to perform better than he did. Following decent appearances in the classics -with top-20 finishes in Sanremo, De Ronde and Amstel Gold-, he stepped onto the podium of both the Boucles de la Mayenne and the Spanish Championships, came 2nd to Julian Alaphilippe atop the Mur de Huy (Tour de Wallonie), then went on to offer an exhibition of power and tactical intelligence at the Tour du Limousin. The Basque conquered his first stagerace success by fighting at every stage, never off the podium (3-1-3-2 were his results over the four days of racing) and showing immense commitment to a group that will surely rely on him for the best races in 2023.