Ruben Guerreiro faces his final year of his contract with Movistar Team in 2025. The Portuguese has not been able to perform at his best with the Spanish team, but hopes to return to the world's most important races this season.
The 30-year-old cyclist, who won a stage and the mountains jersey at the 2020 Giro d'Italia, missed a total of 12 weeks of competition in 2024 due to a hernia, which developed after three previous collarbone fractures, and a concussion caused by a crash at the Tour de Luxembourg that ended his season.
Speaking to TopCycling, Ruben Guerreiro tells how he overcame this difficult moment: "I suffered a serious crash that revealed serious cervical problems, the result of other falls. I don't fall very often, but when I do it's serious. It came at the worst moment, on the eve of the Giro, where I had great expectations because I had been happy there before. Somewhat unknowingly, we didn't have the best attitude because I kept training even though it hurt a bit. This aggravated the problem and I had to rest more. I was out for two months, I couldn't prepare for the Tour and that made the Vuelta difficult."
As for plans for 2025, the Portuguese rider does not yet have a program outlined at a time when some of Movistar's places in the Grand Tours are already allocated. In the Giro, the team will field Nairo Quintana, Einer Rubio and Davide Formolo, in the Tour the team will field Enric Mas, Pablo Castrillo and the team's other Portuguese rider, Nelson Oliveira, and in the Vuelta, we only have confirmation of Enric Mas and Nairo Quintana. However, there is still room for Ruben to progress and secure a spot in a Grand Tour.
"I like the start of the season and the warm climates. At the moment we haven't outlined the program and I don't have any Grand Tours on the program because it depends on the indications I give. I would like to do a hard stage race in February. Everyone knows I'm competitive, maybe 2024 was a challenge and we'll see when that motivation comes up because we're still starting. A cyclist gains confidence little by little to do good things again."
Além da entrevista que podem encontrar no website do TopCycling, deixamos as imagens captadas pelo @gmoreira_esp, de Rúben Guerreiro a treinar em Espanha. 😉 pic.twitter.com/umWUJHJgq0
— TopCycling.pt (@topcycling_pt) January 15, 2025