Alejandro Valverde Set to Join Movistar’s New Gravel Squad

It looks like this gravel thing is catching on. Alejandro Valverde, 42, announced last year that 2022 would be his final season racing in the WorldTour. But this week, in Tom Brady fashion, he reneged. Sort of. He’ll be returning to racing with Movistar’s gravel sector.

Movistar posted a very, “I’m back” video this morning on social media, with the confirmation of the gravel squad. New kit, new bikes, new routes. Fans of Valverde will have plenty of racing to follow this year. Cycling Weekly reports that the first two races on the calendar for Movistar gravel are both on home turf for Valverde in Spain. First up is ‘La Indomable’, a 105 kilometer race in Southern Andalusia on Sunday April 23, followed by the Traka in Girona on April 29.

While the squad is still growing, it will include riders from Movistar’s road, and esports teams. Iván García Cortina, Ana Dillana, and Hayley Simmonds have already signed on. The team says to keep an eye on further upcoming additions.

While the gravel scene has been growing steadily in the states for the past several years, the popularity is spreading in Europe as well. The inaugural gravel World Championships took place in October last year in the Veneto region of Italy. The men’s race was won by Belgium’s Gianni Vermeersch, and the women’s champion was Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. This year’s competition promises to be even more intense. In the U.S., the first-ever gravel national championships are coming to Nebraska in September.

Swapping tarmac for dirt has become a trend for several athletes, such as Ted King, Ruth Winder, and Alex Howes. Fans will certainly be eager to see more coverage of gravel racing, and more athletes joining the off-road scene.

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