Iván Cobo will step up to the WorldTour with Movistar Team in 2027 after signing a three-year contract with the Spanish squad through to the end of 2029.
The 26-year-old moves across after five seasons with Equipo Kern Pharma, having developed from a promising young rider into a regular contender on difficult terrain. Two professional victories during 2026 and his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España have now earned him the opportunity to make the next step.
For Cobo, there is also a personal element to joining Spain’s only men’s WorldTour team.
“I’m incredibly excited about making the step up to the WorldTour, and especially that it’s with Movistar Team,” he said. “It’s the team from Spain that we’ve watched on television for so many years.”
Two victories mark Cobo’s breakthrough season
Cobo’s move comes at the end of the strongest season of his professional career.
His first professional victory arrived in March at the Region of Dodecanese GP in Greece, only two days after he had finished third at the Visit South Aegean GP.
A second win followed in May when Cobo took the opening stage of the GP Beiras e Serra da Estrela. That result demonstrated the characteristics that have increasingly made him interesting to WorldTour teams, with the Cantabrian particularly effective when races combine climbing with more explosive finishes.
His progression continued at the Tour of Slovenia in June. Cobo finished second on a stage and went on to place 10th overall, adding another useful result against stronger opposition.
Those performances built on a 2025 campaign in which he had already started to push towards the front of bigger races. Cobo finished second at the Giro della Romagna, third at the Tour du Doubs and fourth overall at O Gran Camiño.
Rather than one sudden breakthrough, his move to Movistar follows two seasons of increasingly consistent results.
First Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España
The other major step during 2026 was Cobo’s first appearance in a Grand Tour.
Equipo Kern Pharma were among the five ProTeams and wildcard selections invited to the 2026 Vuelta a España, giving Cobo his first opportunity to experience three weeks of racing at WorldTour level.
The Vuelta was particularly significant given where he will race next season. Movistar left the race with Enric Mas in the red jersey after the Spaniard secured his first Grand Tour victory, ending a 12-year wait for a home winner of the Spanish Grand Tour.
Our analysis of how Enric Mas won the 2026 Vuelta a España looked at how Movistar adapted after Tadej Pogačar’s withdrawal and built their race around protecting Mas through the decisive second and third weeks.
Cobo will now move into that WorldTour structure from next season.
Movistar have followed Cobo for several years
The signing is not simply a reaction to his two victories this season.
Movistar Team manager Sebastián Unzué said the squad had been following Cobo’s development for several years and believes the timing is now right to bring him into the team.
“We have been following Iván’s development very closely for several years,” Unzué said. “Now, as he approaches his sporting maturity, it is the right time for our paths to come together.”
Movistar see scope for Cobo to continue developing rather than arriving as a finished rider with an immediately defined role.
At 26, he has considerably more professional experience than many riders making their first WorldTour move, but he has also spent his entire senior career to date within the Kern Pharma structure. The change will expose him to a different calendar, greater depth within his own team and more regular WorldTour racing.
Cobo himself acknowledged that uncertainty over exactly what type of rider he can become.
“I’m really looking forward to starting work with the team and seeing how far I can go as a cyclist and what type of races suit me,” he said. “Everything changes, the races, the teammates, almost even the way you ride a bike.”
Movistar continue adding Spanish talent for 2027
Cobo’s arrival also fits Movistar’s continuing recruitment of Spanish riders with room to develop.
The team has been reshaping parts of its roster while retaining a strong domestic core, and Cobo offers another option for hilly one-day races and stage races without needing to arrive as an immediate leader.
His recent results suggest that the shorter and more explosive stage races could initially provide the clearest opportunities. Fourth at O Gran Camiño, 10th at the Tour of Slovenia and podium finishes in demanding one-day races all point towards a rider capable of contributing across several different types of terrain.
The challenge will be translating those results from ProTeam level into a calendar where WorldTour opposition becomes the norm rather than the exception.
Movistar will have time to find that role. A contract running through 2029 gives Cobo three seasons to establish himself within the squad rather than having to justify the move within his first few months.
Unzué believes that progression can eventually make him an important part of the team.
“I’m confident that he will continue progressing over the coming years until he becomes an important rider within our structure,” he said.
After five seasons with Equipo Kern Pharma, two victories in 2026 and his first Vuelta a España, Cobo will now find out how far that progression can take him at WorldTour level.
