The Euskaltel - Euskadi rider has talked about his recent form and team plans in a recent interview, where he opens about the team's goals for the year, the possibility of being at the Tour de France 2023 as the team would in that case start at home, and his own form on what is his 15th season.
Asked, by VeloNews, if the team had ambitions of being at the Tour this year, Maté had this to day: “No, the Tour was never in the plan this year. We are a team with our feet on the ground. This year we didn’t have the capacity to go to the Tour. Our objective this year, we hope, is to be in the Vuelta a España. We will go step by step, with our feet on the ground.”
With the Tour de France 2023 having it's Grand Depart in Bilbao, and having it's opening stages within the Basque Country, for sure the orange team will have it's eyes on getting that wildcard even if it's a big ask. With the contingent of French teams at Pro Continental level, wildcards are quite complicated for non-French squads unless they rank high up in the UCI Pro Teams ranking.
He added, “we are realistic, ee want to keep growing, little by little, and to be realistic, I see the Tour a little bit too much right now. My form isn’t great right now, this is a big week for racing here in Andalucía, so we hope to do something important.”
Maté has started his season in Mallorca with a set of decent results, having it's best at the Trofeo Pollença with a 27th spot. Yesterday he was on the attack on the opening edition of the Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior, and he'll be riding the Vuelta a Andalucia this week in search of an elusive win, one he hasn't obtained since 2011: “I hope to continue with the team. My numbers are good, and I am still very motivated. I think I still have a lot to bring to cycling, and I hope to keep racing a few more seasons.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
- He will be lol, but he can still win on the climbs hahaawp04-11-2026
- I would love to have his inconsistency. How many wins this year? 2 TdF stages, a WC, a Euro championship, San Sebastian, multiple wins early year. Monument podiums. I'd take it. I don't think he has a chance in the TdF, but he is still amazing.mij04-11-2026
- He's not going to win the TdF. Maybe if they make every single stage a TT he could win. But I still believe Tadej would just sharpen his TT skills and win.mij04-11-2026
- You beat me to it. Should he make a full recovery (likely) and go light early in the year. One, two, three. Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Should he be on a Feel-Like-He's-Fixin'-to-Die High.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- The deciding factor may be the (TBD) number of (any type of) kilometers without Pogacar.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- Unexplained chronic fatigue is an all too common bitch. The hard to find definitive answer may lie buried in gut mechanisms. A mystery of the deep.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- I'll say clean sweep all grand tourZamorano04-11-2026
Loading
Un lince anda suelto hoy en la @ClasicaJaen (@luisangelmate). Así de motivado está el crack de @FundaCiclisEusk antes de que arranque esta novedosa prueba 🚴♂️🫒 Todos los detalles sobre el trazado: marca.com/ciclismo/2022/… (📹 @nacholabarga)
Write a comment