2011 Movistar Team season

Ages as of January 1, 2011.

Rider Date of birth  Andrey Amador (CRC) (1986-08-29)August 29, 1986 (aged 24)  David Arroyo (ESP) (1980-01-07)January 7, 1980 (aged 30)  Marzio Bruseghin (ITA) (1974-06-15)June 15, 1974 (aged 36)  Rui Costa (POR) (1986-10-05)October 5, 1986 (aged 24)  Imanol Erviti (ESP) (1983-11-15)November 15, 1983 (aged 27)  José Vicente García (ESP) (1972-08-04)August 4, 1972 (aged 38)  Iván Gutiérrez (ESP) (1978-11-27)November 27, 1978 (aged 32)  Jesús Herrada (ESP) (1990-07-26)July 26, 1990 (aged 20)  Beñat Intxausti (ESP) (1986-03-20)March 20, 1986 (aged 24)  Javier Iriarte (ESP) (1986-11-11)November 11, 1986 (aged 24)  Vasil Kiryienka (BLR) (1981-06-28)June 28, 1981 (aged 29)  Ignatas Konovalovas (LTU) (1985-12-08)December 8, 1985 (aged 25)  Pablo Lastras (ESP) (1976-01-20)January 20, 1976 (aged 34)

Rider Date of birth  David Lopez (ESP) (1981-05-13)May 13, 1981 (aged 29)  Angel Madrazo (ESP) (1988-07-30)July 30, 1988 (aged 22)  Carlos Oyarzún (CHI) (1981-10-26)October 26, 1981 (aged 29)  Luis Pasamontes (ESP) (1979-10-02)October 2, 1979 (aged 31)  Sergio Pardilla (ESP) (1984-01-16)January 16, 1984 (aged 26)  Francisco Pérez (ESP) (1978-07-22)July 22, 1978 (aged 32)  Rubén Plaza (ESP) (1980-02-29)February 29, 1980 (aged 30)  José Joaquín Rojas Gil (ESP) (1985-06-08)June 8, 1985 (aged 25)  Branislau Samoilau (BLR) (1985-05-25)May 25, 1985 (aged 25)  Enrique Sanz (ESP) (1989-09-11)September 11, 1989 (aged 21)  Mauricio Soler (COL) (1983-01-14)January 14, 1983 (aged 27)  Xavier Tondó[N 1] (ESP) (1978-11-05)November 5, 1978 (aged 32)  Francisco Ventoso (ESP) (1982-05-06)May 6, 1982 (aged 28)

Before the spring season and the races known as classics, the team got a win in the Vuelta a Mallorca series. After making a 40-rider selection with 15 km (9.3 mi) remaining in the Trofeo Deià, Rojas won the resulting sprint among those riders.[15]

The team picked up wins in two simultaneous events at the beginning of the season. At the Tour de San Luis, new acquisition Tondó won the 19.5 km (12.1 mi) individual time trial, gaining a 30-second lead over Androni Giocattoli's José Serpa in the process with three days left to race.[17] In the race's penultimate stage, however, Tondó dramatically bonked and crashed on the descent of the Cerro El Amago, the day's last climb.[18] He had stayed with the race's top riders and seemed to be a 15 km (9.3 mi) descent and an easy, flat final stage away from winning the race. Instead, he lost 15 minutes on the day,[19] and finished the race in 23rd place.[20] Also in January, the squad sent to the Tour Down Under came away with another win. Ventoso won the race's queen stage in Willunga ahead of the sprinters who populated the top of the general classification standings.[21] Ventoso was the squad's top finisher in the final overall standings, in sixth place. The squad narrowly won the teams classification, beating Vacansoleil–DCM by eight seconds.[22] Ventoso added a sprint win in February in stage 3 of the Ruta del Sol.[23] The team did not win any stage at Critérium International in March, but they did win the teams classification and have Kiryienka on the final podium in second. With strong placings in all three stages, Kiryienka also won the event's points classification.[24] Rojas won the sprint finish to stage 6 of the concurrent Volta a Catalunya, with nearly the entire peloton finishing together.[25]

Kiryienka won stage 2 at the Tour of the Basque Country with a late-race solo attack. He initially drew four others with him, but a second surge 1,400 m (4,600 ft) from the line gave him the win two seconds ahead of the leading group on the road. It was the Belarusian's first race win since a stage in the 2008 Giro d'Italia.[26] The squad also won the team award at this event.[27] Later in April, the team had a very strong Vuelta a Castilla y León. Ventoso won the first two stages in field sprints, keying of the sprint train Team Sky was trying to use to set up their sprinter Russell Downing on both days.[28][29] The overall classification was left wide open the next day when three-time champion Alberto Contador suffered mechanical trouble on the race's only summit finish, the Laguna de los Peces, and lost two minutes. Tondó finished fifth on the stage, and was in second overall just three seconds behind new race leader Bauke Mollema.[30] Tondó was third in the race's individual time trial the next day, taking the race lead since he gained 12 seconds on Mollema.[31] The time gaps held on the final stage, meaning Tondó won the race overall. Ventoso added a second place in stage 5 to his two wins earlier to handily win the points classification, though he would have won it even if he had not scored in the final stage.[32] Neo-pro Sanz took the first win of his career at the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid in a short (84.8 km (52.7 mi)) road race held the same day as the prologue time trial. The young Spaniard came first in the field sprint.[33] The next day, Costa finished second on the Puerto de la Morcuera summit by 14 seconds, but this performance was enough to make him the race's overall winner. The team also won two classification awards, with Costa taking the points title and Herrada the youth classification.[34]

The team also sent squads to the Tour Méditerranéen, the Tour du Haut Var, Vuelta a Murcia, Paris–Nice, Tirreno–Adriatico, the Tour de Romandie, Vuelta a Asturias, the Circuit de Lorraine, the Critérium du Dauphiné, the Brixia Tour, the Tour de Pologne, the Eneco Tour, the Tour du Poitou-Charentes and the Tour of Beijing, but did not achieve a stage win, classification win, or podium finish in any of them.