The Movistar Team will have the biggest up-and-coming talent in Spanish cycling within its ranks from summer 2025. Navarra’s Paula Ostiz (2007), currently a member of the Cafés Baqué project supported by the Abarca Sports organisation, has signed a contract with the Telefónica-sponsored team that will see her become a trainee with the Blues in August 2025. The under-19 European time trial champion was recently crowned in Limburg (Belgium) while still a first-year junior and has become a sensation on the international scene. Ostiz’s big palmarès in 2024 includes the overall victory in the Watersley Challenge, the most prestigious stage race on the junior calendar. She also took convincing victories in both Spanish Championships (ITT + road race) last July in Avilés, Asturias. Ostiz will then become a fully-fledged member of the team’s WorldTour outfit in 2026-28.
The young rider’s leap validates the Movistar Team’s bet on the Baqué project, now coming to the end of its first season with support from some of the WorldTour team’s brands helping the initiative for the future of Spanish cycling.
Paula Ostiz said of her signing – “My experience with the team at last January’s Jávea camp was really good – they treated me well, I could get to know the team from the inside and the support from my team-mates was exceptional. I kept in touch with Sebas(tián) Unzué and the HQ all year, everything was so smooth and easy, and that’s something I’m really thankful for. Being a team from my home region, I felt really at east with them.
“I think I’ve got myself in the best possible form to the Euros – as I think I could show at the TT – and the Worlds. I’d like to do well in what’s left. I’ve always dreamt of wearing the rainbow bands since I was a little child – I always tell my family it’s something we can dream of. Let’s hope we can get it, or at least be on the podium and add a medal to the gold from Belgium, which I’m so proud about. Zürich will be a really tough course, a race of attrition – we’re bringing a strong Spanish team, and I’m really excited about the Worlds, so let’s go for it!”
Sebastián Unzué added – “I’m so happy to finally be able to make Paula’s signing with the team official. Being from the same region as the team, we’ve known her already for years, we met for the first time in under-17 stage, and she got full support from the team in this first junior season: training camps, equipment – plus, she knows the team-mates and environment, so she should be able to adapt to the team dynamics in no time.
“We feel she’s one of the biggest talents in her generation, as shown by her results, especially that ITT Euros gold that puts her right at the top of the bunch. We hope she will continue to be able to grow within the team, one step at a time. Taking the leap in August as a trainee should ease up the step and make things comfortable for her during her first full WorldTour season in 2026.”
