Movistar Team analysis in Tirreno Adriatico and Paris-Nice: Enric Mas' return doesn't solve anything

Movistar Team is the only Spanish WorldTour team and right now its position is not in danger for the end of the current cycle in 2025. However, we can't say that 2024 is looking like a great year for the team.

This has been confirmed with a very poor performance at Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice, something that leaves many doubts for the rest of the campaign.

Tirreno-Adriatico

Enric Mas made his debut in Tirreno and he did it finishing 12th in the general classification, going completely unnoticed and looking light years behind his rivals in the two mountain stages of the race.

It was his first race of the year, yes, but in 2023 in his first race in Andalusia, he fought with Tadej Pogacar and gave very good impressions. Then he finished sixth in a Tirreno with a stronger overall participation than in the current one. It's worrying that Enric will come back like that, although it's true that we have to give him the benefit of the doubt and start judging him from the next race.

Of the rest, it's almost better not to talk about. Nothing at all for Davide Formolo (26th overall), Iván Sosa (nobody expects him at this stage of his career) and Iván García Cortina (what was he doing racing this race and not the French classics last weekend?) The best of the week, by far, the third place of Davide Cimolai in the last stage that gives good UCI points.

Paris-Nice

We can say little about Paris-Nice, to be honest. Movistar didn't have a team to do too much and even more after the loss of Oier Lazkano. Beyond the fact that former rider Matteo Jorgenson ended up winning the race (something that always hurts) little to add with the rest beyond the poor performance in the team time trial despite having specialists like Rémi Cavagna or Will Barta.

In these races you can understand why EF Education-EasyPost did not bet on the continuity of Rúben Guerreiro and that at WorldTour level riders like Will Barta or Mathias Norsgaard, no matter how much desire they put into them, have a hard time winning stages.

In short, Movistar Team must try to make a leap forward in strategy and choice of riders to achieve good results in Itzulia and Volta a Catalunya, home races in which there will be no excuses if the performance continues to be so poor.