Iván Romeo’s frustration at his bad luck at Movistar Team: “It hasn’t been a great month and everything is going wrong”

The start of O Gran Camiño 2026 left a bitter taste for Iván Romeo, who arrived ambitious and in good shape but was once again hampered by bad luck. The Movistar Team rider did not hide his disappointment after a puncture that completely wrecked his ride on a stage he had ringed in red.

“My goal this week was the time trial, and when you puncture everything goes down the drain,” he summed up bluntly on A Pie de Puerto.

Romeo explained that, at the moment of the incident, there was no point in maintaining a competitive effort, as any chance of a win or a benchmark result had vanished. “So it didn’t make sense to keep pushing if the win was already gone,” he added.

The Spaniard stressed that he had prepared specifically for the time trial, aware it was one of the race’s key opportunities. However, the outcome was the worst possible for his interests. The puncture not only cost him time but also broke the rhythm of a day when he expected to test himself against the best.

“I had the splits, I was saving quite a bit for the final sector,” he explained, acknowledging a plan to build into the effort. But the mechanical forced him to rewrite the script entirely. In efforts this short and explosive, any setback is a point of no return.

Beyond the TT, Romeo put his current situation into context, shaped by a physically difficult month. He explained that a previous crash at Paris–Nice compromised his subsequent preparation and triggered a chain of issues that have affected his performance.

“After the crash I was practically three weeks without training, I messed up a knee, and I only did one hard session the week before coming here,” he said. In a sport as demanding as professional cycling, that lack of continuity quickly turns into performance gaps that are hard to bridge.

“At the level cycling is today, if you’re practically two weeks without training and then have two weeks to prepare, whatever the race, it’s very hard to be at 100%,” he reflected candidly.

Despite the outcome, Romeo admitted his sensations on the bike were not bad before the puncture. He had planned his effort carefully, trusting he could improve in the final section, where he usually performs well. The time trial, however, gave him no margin to unfold that plan.

“I thought that with the level here I could be up there,” he said, hinting that confidence was present, though tempered by his recent physical state.

The rider’s final assessment was one of contained frustration. More than anger at a poor performance, Romeo conveyed the feeling that external factors have weighed too heavily on his recent form. “Between a not-so-good month and everything going wrong, it’s a real blow,” he concluded.

Another setback in a tough learning phase for the young rider, who keeps seeking continuity and consistency in an increasingly demanding calendar.