CHAMPION BY NATURE. Born in Villafranca de los Caballeros (Toledo) and living just south in Albacete, Javier Romo from La Mancha took the step towards bike racing after the hardest moments of the pandemic in 2020, once triathlon -a discipline he was a Spanish champion and European top-ten at as a junior in 2017- was seen to restart quite more sluggishly than amateur cycling. In just a few races, part of the under-23 Baqué-Ideus team, he became the biggest revelation of the Spanish peloton. A GC podium in the Vuelta a Cantabria and, most importantly, Spanish road race champion in Cazorla (Jaén) with a tremendous breakaway, putting more than two minutes on the rest of the podium, it was soon clear that his place was within the best in the business.

FIRST STEPS IN THE PRO SCENE. Despite his body type being the one from an allrounder -an ability he’s not lost after these years racing inside a peloton-, Romo soon made a name for himself on the climbs. At his pro debut, with Astana in 2021, he finished 5th overall at the Settimana Coppi e Bartali -plus 2nd in the demanding San Marino showdown- and came close to the top places on the decisive ascents of Turkey, Hungary and Slovenia, against WorldTour talents. His progression was cut short, however, during 2022, a year he would somewhat bounce back from in the following season.

A YEAR OF CONTRAST. The 2023 season left Romo’s best moments in the pro scene so far, while also some of the most disappointing. He sustained two injuries -a fracture to his jawbone and fistula at a crash in the Itzulia, plus a broken rib in La Vuelta-, after the former of which, despite losing so much blood, he was called by the antidoping inspectors to carry out a control while admitted to hospital. He still did well with several breakaways in Valencia, Paris-Nice, La Vuelta itself and, most importantly, a great Vuelta a Burgos: 7th overall, best young rider and ready to take another step forward, within the ranks of the home WT team.