While his compatriot Matteo Jorgenson will leave Movistar this winter, Will Barta is content and settled at the Spanish team for the foreseeable future. Barta’s two-year extension was only publicly announced a couple of weeks ago, but the new contract had already been agreed months previously, he reveals.
"Historically, it’s been a really Spanish team, and that’s still the case, but I think that also makes it a really tight team," Barta told Cyclingnews. "You don’t have lots of different groups, so everyone meshes really well, and you just feel like it’s one, big family."
"You never know what’s going to happen in life, but I think that was about as challenging as it can get in cycling, to be honest," Barta describes the toughest times of his career when he twice broke his femur. "I was bouncing from one team to another with injuries and things like that, so I’ve been really lucky to find a nice team like Movistar to grow in."
"For me, I feel like I’m finally back at a baseline," Barta said. "It was the first off-season since 2017 where I didn’t have a surgery on my leg. It’s one thing to have a surgery on your hand or something, but to have surgery on your leg each year was quite difficult. This has definitely been the best season I’ve had, and it’s something I can build from."