Mireia Benito joins Movistar Team on three-year deal through 2029

Mireia Benito will leave AG Insurance-Soudal at the end of the 2026 season and join Movistar Team on a three-year contract running through 2029.

The 29-year-old Catalan rider arrives after the strongest season of her career, having completed the Spanish national championship double, finished third at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, fourth overall at the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas and fifth at the Volta a Catalunya Femenina.

Benito has spent four seasons with AG Insurance-Soudal after joining in 2023 and leaves as one of the most experienced Spanish riders in the Women’s WorldTour. Her time trialling remains a major strength, but her results this year have increasingly shown that she can contribute across hilly one-day races and stage races as well.

“If a few years ago you had told me that I would end up wearing the colours of Movistar Team, I probably would have thought it was unimaginable,” Benito said. “I have always seen it as an ambitious team, with a project that backs the development of younger riders without forgetting that experience plays a key role in this sport.”

Benito returns to a Spanish team after four years at AG Insurance-Soudal

Benito joined AG Insurance-Soudal ahead of the 2023 season after three years with Massi-Tactic, making the move into a programme that was itself developing towards the top level of women’s cycling.

Her four years there have coincided with a steady expansion of her own role.

The Mireia Benito rider profile charts that progression from national-level results into regular appearances across the Women’s WorldTour. What began primarily with her strength against the clock has gradually broadened into a much more useful all-round racing profile.

Benito was clear about how much the Belgian team had meant to her.

“It’s really impossible to sum it all up in just a few words, but if I had to choose one, it would be, without a doubt, family,” she said. “You have seen me grow, just like a family does. We built something really special together.”

She also credited the team with giving her responsibility gradually rather than forcing her into leadership before she was ready.

“You believed in me, were patient with me and gave me the trust and confidence to take on responsibilities when I was ready for them.”

That relationship ends after a season in which Benito has justified being given more freedom.

A Spanish championship double capped her best season

Benito’s clearest success in 2026 came at the Spanish national championships in Sabiñánigo.

She won the elite women’s individual time trial for the fourth consecutive year, extending a run that began in 2023. Two days later she added the road race title to complete the national double for the first time.

Her ability against the clock has been well established for several seasons, but the road title fitted a broader pattern in 2026.

Benito started the year with ninth overall at the Women’s Tour Down Under before finishing third at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. That Geelong podium was one of her best one-day WorldTour results and showed that she could survive a selective race before still having enough speed for the finish.

She then carried that form into the European stage-race season.

At the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas, Benito attacked with 27km remaining on stage 3 and came close to completing the move before Mischa Bredewold bridged across. Bredewold eventually won their two-rider sprint, leaving Benito second after one of the most aggressive rides of the race. The full move is covered in ProCyclingUK’s Vuelta a Burgos stage 3 report.

Benito backed that up on the Lagunas de Neila summit finish the following day and secured fourth overall.

The result mattered because it showed that her improved one-day performances had not come at the expense of stage-race consistency.

Fourth in Burgos and fifth in Catalunya show a wider range

Benito’s fifth place at the Volta a Catalunya Femenina added another high GC finish.

The decisive mountain stage to La Molina was won by Paula Blasi, but Benito remained close enough across the three-day race to finish fifth overall. ProCyclingUK’s final Volta a Catalunya stage report covered her place among a strong group of Catalan riders in the final classification.

She also finished 16th at the Giro d’Italia Women, giving her another useful Grand Tour result during a season containing more than just national championship success.

Movistar are therefore signing a rider who can fill several different roles.

Benito can target time trials herself, support a general classification leader through difficult stage races and take opportunities when hilly races become open enough for attacks. Her second place from the long move in Burgos was a good example of the latter.

That versatility is particularly useful in a team already containing riders with clearly defined strengths.

Movistar add experience to a changing roster

Movistar entered 2026 with Marlen Reusser as their main stage-race reference, supported by riders including Liane Lippert, Cat Ferguson, Sara Martín and Floortje Mackaij.

The Movistar Team 2026 Women’s WorldTour guide highlighted a roster increasingly split between established leaders and a developing group of younger riders.

Benito fits between those two groups.

She brings four years of WorldTour experience and has raced the biggest stage races and championships, but her 2026 results suggest she is still improving rather than arriving simply as an experienced domestique.

Movistar general manager Sebastián Unzué described her as a rider the team have known for a long time and expect to contribute immediately.

“Her ability to contribute on all terrains, her experience and her character make her a safe bet for the team,” he said.

That ability against the clock also adds another option alongside Reusser and the younger Spanish riders already developing within the squad.

Benito wants to keep pushing beyond her established strengths

The move also gives Benito a different environment after spending much of her WorldTour career with the same organisation.

“I’m joining Movistar with a real desire to contribute everything I already know how to do, to work tirelessly on everything I still don’t know how to do and, above all, to fit into the good atmosphere that already exists within the team,” she said.

That willingness to keep developing is important because Benito’s 2026 season has shifted expectations.

A fourth consecutive Spanish time trial championship confirmed what was already known about her. Podiums and top-five results in WorldTour road races and stage races offered something different.

She no longer needs to be viewed primarily as Spain’s leading time trial specialist.

“I want to keep challenging myself, chasing new goals and learning to make defeats as important a part of who I am as victories are,” Benito said. “This sport is very hard, but if so many people are passionate about it, it must also be because it is capable of making us indescribably happy.”

Benito leaves AG Insurance-Soudal after four seasons

AG Insurance-Soudal will lose a rider who has been part of the team throughout much of its growth at WorldTour level.

The AG Insurance-Soudal 2026 team guide reflected a squad which had become increasingly competitive across the calendar, and Benito has played several different roles during that development.

She leaves without trying to downplay what those four years meant.

“The rider I am today, and all the results I have achieved, are thanks to you, thanks to every single member of this team,” Benito said. “Now our paths are going in different directions, but I’m convinced that we’ll keep creating memories together on the road.”

From 2027, those paths will cross with Benito wearing Movistar colours.

Her three-year contract gives both rider and team time to build beyond what has already been her most complete season, while returning one of Spain’s strongest riders to a Spanish WorldTour structure for the first time since 2022.