OFFICIAL: Movistar Team sign Belgian national champion from Tadej Pogacar's UAE squad on three-year deal
Cycling
Movistar Team have secured the signing of reigning Belgian national champion Rune Herregodts from UAE Team Emirates - XRG, with the 28-year-old agreeing a three-year contract through to the end of 2029. After two seasons working in support of some of the biggest names in the peloton, the Belgian will make the move to Spain hoping for greater opportunities to chase results of his own.
Herregodts arrives as the reigning Belgian road race champion, having claimed the national title in June, and adds power, experience and versatility to Movistar's squad for 2027. His arrival also helps strengthen the team's options for the Classics following the departure of Ivan Garcia Cortina to Alpecin - Premier Tech.
Born in Aalst on 27 July 1998, Herregodts began his professional career with Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise in 2021. He stepped up to the WorldTour with Intermarche-Circus-Wanty two years later before joining UAE Team Emirates - XRG in 2025.
Although much of his time at UAE has been spent in a supporting role, Herregodts has demonstrated his ability to compete for victories when given the opportunity. His strength on the flat, time trialling ability and capacity to handle demanding one-day races make him a useful addition to Movistar's Classics squad.
Herregodts is the Belgian national champion
Belgian champion looking for greater opportunities at Movistar
Herregodts has six professional victories to his name, dating back to his breakthrough success at the Ronde van Drenthe in 2021. The following season brought stage victories at the Vuelta a Andalucia and Sazka Tour, establishing him as a rider capable of delivering results on different types of terrain.
In 2023, he came close to victory at the Figueira Champions Classic, finishing second, and also recorded two podium finishes on stages of the Criterium du Dauphine.
His progress continued in 2024 when he won both the general classification and a stage at the ZLM Tour. His biggest achievement, however, arrived in June 2026 when he claimed the Belgian national road race title, beating Jonas Rickaert and Fabio Van den Bossche in a three-man sprint.
That victory underlined his ability to win races rather than simply work for others, something that will be particularly important as he begins the next chapter of his career.
Herregodts believes Movistar can provide the right environment to develop further, pointing to the improvements he has seen within the Spanish team. "I think the team is making a lot of progress in terms of performance and, for me, it's a good environment to show what I can do, help the team and also have more opportunities in breakaways and the Classics," he explained in comments released by Movistar Team.
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The Belgian also revealed that he had spoken to compatriot Cian Uijtdebroeks about life at Movistar before making the move. "He was very enthusiastic, and that reinforced my confidence that this is a good place to develop my career as a rider," Herregodts added, expressing his belief that the pair can enjoy a successful 2027 season together.
For Movistar, the signing brings an experienced WorldTour rider into a squad undergoing changes ahead of the new campaign. While Herregodts is not a like-for-like replacement for Garcia Cortina, his characteristics should give the Spanish team additional options in the northern Classics and races suited to powerful rouleurs.
Movistar team manager Sebastian Unzue believes the Belgian is arriving at an ideal point in his career. "Rune joins the team at a point when he is reaching full maturity, with the experience and quality needed to contribute across different types of terrain. I'm convinced his arrival will bring a lot of value to the group," Unzue said.
The move offers Herregodts the chance to combine his experience supporting UAE's leaders with a more prominent role at Movistar, where his Belgian champion's jersey will be a familiar sight throughout the 2027 season.
Javier RampeCycling Journalist
Javier Rampe is a sports analyst with more than 15 years of experience. He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Rome and a Diploma in Business Studies from the University of Cádiz. Despite coming from an academic background not particularly associated with cycling, his passion for both cycling and journalism was instilled in him from an early age. He grew up following Miguel Indurain and José María “El Chava” Jiménez. An admirer of Michael Robinson’s communication style and journalistic approach, he was inspired to pursue a degree in Journalism at the University of Buenos Aires, which he is currently completing.
He has always maintained close ties with the worlds of sport and culture, contributing from a young age to sports blogs and film and music review websites. His work has appeared in media outlets such as Cope, RAI, and Radio Con Vos. He is also the founder of the cycling-focused podcast El Contraanálisis and the football interview channel Días De Fútbol, dedicated to conversations with professional footballers.
In addition to his work at Ciclismoaldia, Javier has interviewed some of the most influential figures in modern cycling, including Alejandro Valverde and Tadej Pogačar, as well as key voices in anti-doping policy such as Alberto Yelmo, David Varillas, and Marcelo Milano. Marcos Maynar, in relation to the ‘Operación Ílex’ case, is also among the personalities he has interviewed. He enjoys conducting in-depth analysis of the cycling ecosystem and has attended major events such as Strade Bianche, the Vuelta a Andalucía, and Itzulia, as well as numerous national cyclo-cross races.
His background in economics, combined with extensive experience in marketing and corporate communications, drives his continuous study of positioning strategies and ensures that he always keeps his focus on crafting compelling and evocative headlines.
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- Thats only cause he rides for UAE. In any other team he would be captain in many races atleast. UAE is just to crazymiguel06-11-2026
- He seems to be the rare athlete whose passion and curiosity about life beyond his sport equals his extraordinary achievements in it. It would be great for him to risk less of that life. He seems very grateful and joyful for what he has already attained.
MarkFour06-11-2026 - As much as I admire and even revere Wout, the less I know about his backside the better.MidnightRider06-11-2026
- Ok, Walt 🤣... Vingegaard would be lucky to get on the poduim. He would not beat Seixas or Del Toro, let alone TP. Then there are the Americans...BD06-11-2026
- So, for starters. Cycling is a saturated, static/dying sport in traditional lands, it will not have resurgences like eg running occasionally does because of several obstacular (yes, I know that’s not a word but don’t make me point out the obvious at your expense) factors. Obviously, like almost everything involving money, there is a desire/need/advantage to growth and that can only come from (developing or just testing) new markets. For me, the WC is the obvious and best choice for several reasons, it comes at the end of the season so is less critical season risk wise, it is not a “pro” team race but nation based which makes integration of uncommon participation more natural. It is a vehicle for redistribution (one of a very limited number of available mechanisms to develop new markers fairly) that the fixed calendar doesn’t allow and it helps make budgets fairer over the long run (moving the whole circus to everywhere evens out everyone’s budget as opposed to having everyone always come to the same location.Jumpyjohn06-11-2026
- Sad that a more refreshing article like this, which could generate discussion in a number of directions, gets completely ignored for the importance of debating the level of superiority of one rider into every single last detail, including a majority of totally hypothetical ones. People complain there is no news in the off season and it’s boring but don’t realise how boring it is to review the same old discussion over and over again, several times a day. In fact, you’d almost think this was a rider fan website. Instead of complaining about the FREE (as long as you pay attention to data use if not unlimited coz this site consumes almost as much for loading Youtube) content, the presence of cv of authors (for the missed obvious reason that it makes it easier to insert extra advertising without changing formats), the lack of quality/checking and depth of articles, why not also think about the content, quality and variety of posts that everyone can contribute to? The platform becomes irrelevant when discussion is interesting.Jumpyjohn06-11-2026
- UAE Team Emirates and Pogačar will officially unveil their objectives at the team’s media day, which will take place on December 18 in Benidorm, Spain. New information from the UAE Team: Exceptional recovery remains the cornerstone of success for the Slovenian cannibal-Pogi, whose sporting manager, Matxin, believes he will be even better in 2027 than he has been over the past three seasons.PogiSloFans06-11-2026
- Yeh, but he didn't and RE beat Pog & Del T 👍
leedorney06-11-2026 - Just my opinionleedorney06-11-2026
- Great win.However will the world champions jersey be simply a domestic for the season which will some what tarnish the jersey. I hope he is given free rein to try and win some races.paultryan200206-11-2026
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