Movistar is a Spanish registered professional cycling team whose foundations were laid way back in 1980 as Reynolds. Early team leaders such as Pedro Delgado brought great success to the team with victories in the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana. Later, Spanish bank Banesto took over sponsorship, winning the Tour de France five times courtesy of Miguel Indurain. Nowadays, title sponsorship is held by Movistar, a major Spanish mobile phone carrier, owned by parent company Telefonica.
For much of the team’s history, Movistar has been associated with Pinarello bicycles. In 2014, German manufacturer and consumer-direct brand Canyon Bicycles took over bicycle sponsorship of the team. Canyon provides the bikes for two WorldTour teams, the other being Katusha. The 2016 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX is the fourth generation of Ultimate. Canyon made considerable efforts to improve the bike’s performance in the wind tunnel, but at the same time keep the weight down, retain the frame’s stiffness-to-weight ratio, and maintain a comfortable ride. Those goals seem to have been met, if the wait list for the unavailable-in-the-USA Canyon brand is anything to go by. This particular Canyon belongs to Spanish professional rider, José Joaquín Rojas Gil, one of Movistar’s designated sprinters. Click to read more about José’s Canyon Ultimate CF SLX.
Movistar is one of three Campagnolo equipped teams in the WorldTour peloton, the others being Lotto Soudal and Astana (featuring their bikes soon). Campagnolo supplies the team with its top tier Super Record mechanical and electronic groupsets. Without doubt, Campagnolo’s Super Record EPS (Electronic Power Shift) is the most exotic and expensive drivetrain on the market today.
German manufacturer Power2max, a brand seldom seen in the professional peleton, handles the power measurement needs of the team.
Movistar roll on Campagnolo’s Bora Ultra 50 tubular wheelset, fitted with company’s CULT (Ceramic Ultimate Level Technology) bearings and custom team graphics.
