Despite a turbulent start to the Vuelta Femenina, the Movistar team are ready to take on the remainder of their biggest home race and have hopes of overall success.
Their race got off to a controversial start when the Spanish team were fined for late arrival to the UCI commissaires' bike checks before stage 1's team time trial. Subsequent teams were then delayed, implying post-stage that Movistar were to blame, and the squad was fined 1,600 CHF for their lateness.
Then, on stage 2, the team wanted to contest the sprint with Cat Ferguson, by the 19-year-old debutant slid out on the final corner and the team had to settle for 11th with Liane Lippert as Marianne Vos won the stage with ease.
These early setbacks haven't cowed women's team manager Sebastián Unzué, who is still optimistic of the team's chances with leaders Lippert and Marlen Reusser.
"These circumstances arose, and it's time to look ahead. I'm good at that; I think about the future quickly without getting bogged down by what happened in the past," he told Marca after the events of the opening two stages.
Though Unzué was keen to move on from the early incidents, he did hit back at the amount of blame being apportioned to Movistar, who admit being late to their bike check but say there were already delays and backlogs that led to issues.
"We had to pay the price for the errors and inefficiency throughout the bike-checking process by the stewards. There weren't enough stewards, and the delays started with the first team. It was unfair," he said.
"Even so, we accept the sanction. We accept it because we deserve it. The rules are very clear. And we committed an infraction by arriving late. But we would like to see the rules applied fairly and not make exceptions like they did on Sunday."
Movistar received a hefty fine, but no time sanction, and finished with the seventh best time on the day, yielding 15 seconds to winners Lidl-Trek. Whilst that may seem like a big chunk of time to lose on GC on day 1, Unzué was positive about the team's overall hopes in the days to come.
"The team is doing well. In the final few days, we'll see what our chances are for the overall standings,” he said.
"I think there are real chances of doing well overall, but we have to take advantage of our opportunities. In the mountains, we'll see who's truly strong.”
Reusser had a disrupted 2024 season, but has won stage races like Itzulia and the Tour de Suisse in her career, so can be considered one of the contenders in the Vuelta, alongside the punchier Lippert.
Movistar have only taken one win this season – Reusser's victory at the Trofeo Palma Femina – but have been active in the peloton, and they are confident that more results will come in the stage races, their bigger focus compared to the Classics.
As for Ferguson, she may have another chance to sprint on stage 3 or 6, but Unzué was clear that the team are not placing heavy expectations on her shoulders, despite her impressive results so far this year.
“She's under pressure from some of the media, but not from us," he said. "She's a girl with enormous talent, but she's only 19 years old. It's important to remember that. You have to take things one step at a time."
Movistar will be back in action at the Vuelta Femenina on Tuesday afternoon, taking on the 132km stage from Barbastro to Huesca.
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