“He has a fairly climbing profile, complete, a runner who can go along the lines of the general classifications. Of course, he is not a sprinter, he is not a particularly fast runner. He has more resistance and climbing conditions ”. This was the analysis he did Patxi Vila, performance manager of the Movistar team, when asked in AS last January about the figure of Markel Beloki. Joseba’s son mythical Spanish ex-cyclist, successfully completed a few days of concentration with the telephone team in winter, given the promising career he has had in the lower categories in recent years in the ranks of the MMR Cycling Academy. And its fabulous conditions have not gone unnoticed beyond our borders…
And it is that the young Markel, 18 years old, He will sign for the EF Education team next season, so he will make the leap to the World Tour category directly from youth. This has been confirmed by AS, and although the announcement has not yet been made official, the Spanish promise would reach the first team of the American squad directly, despite the fact that the team’s CEO, Jonathan Vaughters, has a team of development for young talents. His precocity, like the recent examples of Carlos Rodríguez and Juan Ayuso, lead him directly to getting trained in first-level appointments. After achievements like national gold against the clock, silver in the background and his next call for the Glasgow World Cups with the junior team, there is no doubt that he has made merits.
For greater peace of mind, thinking about future stability during its development, it should be noted that Markel will sign with EF Education for three seasons, so he will have plenty of time to show some conditions that, as Vila fooled this newspaper, are similar to those of his father: “The address could be that. As we all do a little, try to be like our parents or even that they guide us to where they have done best in life. Physically and physiologically I think he is a fairly long-lined kid, with height (more than 1.80m) and good plant on top of the bike. His technical level is quite developed, with good knowledge of what it is to be a cyclist”. It only remains to see him in action to confirm that we are facing a new star in the making of Spanish cycling. Good times are coming.