With no Mas and no Quintana, Movistar Team look to youth and Pablo Castrillo at La Vuelta 2025

Movistar Team have confirmed their line-up for the 2025 Vuelta a España, which kicks off this Saturday, 23rd August, with a Gran Salida in Turin. With Enric Mas sidelined due to injury, any lingering hopes of a general classification campaign have been shelved. Instead, Eusebio Unzué has opted for a youthful, aggressive squad built around opportunistic breakaways and the pursuit of stage victories — a pragmatic shift for a team in need of results.

Leading the charge is Pablo Castrillo, the 2024 revelation who stunned the peloton with two stage wins in last year’s Vuelta. After a subdued showing in his Tour de France debut, Castrillo returns to more familiar terrain with renewed ambitions. He’ll be joined by the likes of Javier Romo and Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda, both suited to mountainous terrain and likely to animate the race in the high-altitude breakaways.

Also targeting stage success are Carlos Canal and Iván García Cortina, riders with the engine and tactical nous to feature in rolling-stage escapes. Orluis Aular, meanwhile, will aim to capitalise on the race’s limited sprint opportunities, as he did in the Giro — this time against a less stacked sprint field, where a well-timed move could yield dividends.

The line-up is rounded out by Jorge Arcas, expected to play his usual support role, and Michel Hessmann, whose form remains an open question. The German, recently returned from a doping suspension, has yet to show signs of his former promise. The Vuelta will serve as his first significant test in Movistar colours, and a chance to prove he still belongs at this level.

As anticipated, Nairo Quintana was not selected following his crash at the Vuelta a Burgos — a decision many feel should have come earlier, given his deeply underwhelming 2025 campaign. Fernando Gaviria also misses out, with the route offering little for a pure sprinter — and his recent form offering even less justification.

With GC ambitions off the table, Movistar head into the Vuelta in a transitional phase, banking on youth, aggression, and tactical freedom to deliver the kind of stage wins that have eluded them in recent seasons.

Pablo Castrillo
Javier Romo
Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda
Carlos Canal
Ivan Garcia Cortina
Orluis Aular
Jorge Arcas
Michel Hessmann