MADRID, 30 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The British cyclist Claire Steels, ‘top-20’ in the Tour and La Vuelta in 2023, has signed a three-season agreement, until 2026, with the Movistar Team, the telephone team reported in a statement on Wednesday.
Hailing from the Israel-Premier Tech Roland team, Claire Steels has taken a giant leap in her progression from the world of duathlon and running to the WorldTour, after just four seasons with UCI teams.
Her first three were in Spain, as she was part of the Sopela Women’s Team, where, to her numerous victories in the Euskaldun Tournament, she added a growing international experience and an authority within the peloton as a good climber and time trialist that she was able to assert in this 2023.
The last season of Steels, who resides for a large part of the year in Mallorca, has seen him win the women’s event of the Volta a Catalunya; being on the podium (third) in the Durango international; national road runner-up; sixth in the Tour of Switzerland; ninth in the Binda Trophy; eleventh on the UAE Tour; or ‘top-20’, fifteenth and eighteenth, respectively, in two ‘big’: La Vuelta and the Tour de France.
“I did not expect to evolve in the way that I have done as an athlete in recent years. I have enjoyed every discipline in which I have been, always trying to give my best, looking for motivation in life and in sport in to be better every day. But to become a professional cyclist, and now to be part of one of the best teams on the WorldTour… I still have to pinch myself to be aware of this opportunity. I have always admired the Movistar Team from outside for its professionalism and for how they approach the races, always on the attack. To have this possibility for me is a dream”, commented Claire Steels.
Steels thinks he still has a lot to offer in cycling. “My path in cycling has only just begun. I think that, with the experience that the staff and the riders have, I will be able to improve in all aspects. What I want to develop the most is, on the one hand, being more constant and being able to always give a good level in the stage tours, and on the other hand, be the best possible partner, integrate in the best way with the rest of the group and help as much as possible, inside and outside the competition.Improve in both areas to be a better runner and person,” she added.