The Movistar Team confirmed on Tuesday that seven riders from its 2015 roster have re-signed with Eusebio Unzué's squad: brothers Ion and Gorka Izagirre, Fran Ventoso, Imanol Erviti, Javi Moreno, José Joaquín Rojas and Dayer Quintana.
The Ormaiztegi-born saga has shone again in 2015, more remarkably the younger, Ion, winner of the Tour de Pologne after two previous GC podium finishes as well as top-3 overall in the Vuelta al País Vasco (3rd) plus second in the Prueba Villafranca and the GP Miguel Indurain. Gorka brought valuable teamwork for his leaders and fantastic consistency, the 27-year old finishing eighth overall Down Under, ninth in Paris-Nice and fourth in the Tour de France's queen Pyrenees stage top Plateau de Beille (4th), also strong in the recent Tour of Britain's toughest stages.
Commitment was a fundamental value for three of the telephone squad's domestiques this year: Ventoso, Erviti and Moreno. Ventoso, winner of more than twenty races as a sprinter back in the beginning of his career, was a solid support for Quintana and Valverde in the Vuelta; Erviti rode in France and Spain for the third consecutive time, praised as one of the best 'gregarios' in the peloton; and Moreno got back to winning ways in 2015 by claiming the ITT of the Vuelta a Andalucía in Coria del Río, while also finishing 6th in Madrid, 7th in Castilla y León and 9th in the Vuelta a Asturias.
Rojas, stage winner and race leader in the Blues' Tour of Qatar debut, earned his extension through a magnificent Vuelta a España, where he came close twice to victory (3rd) in both sprint finishes (Castellón) and mountain-top finishes (Fuente del Chivo). Finally, Quintana keeps learning the duties of a pro cyclist after two seasons in the pro scene, having claimed victory in Austria's queen stage in 2014 before debuting in a Grand Tour this season: the Giro d'Italia.
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