Iván García Cortina will leave Movistar at the end of the 2026 season after agreeing a two-year contract with Alpecin-Premier Tech.
The 30-year-old Spaniard will race for the Belgian WorldTeam through 2028, strengthening the Classics group built around Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen.
García Cortina said the move gives him the chance to test himself within one of the peloton’s strongest one-day racing teams before the final phase of his career.
“I’m incredibly grateful for everything I experienced during six years with Movistar Team. Those memories will always stay with me. But now it’s time for a new challenge. I didn’t want to finish my career without trying to be part of one of the best teams in the world and compete at the highest level in the races I enjoy the most: the Spring Classics.”
García Cortina adds experience to Alpecin’s Classics squad
García Cortina joined Movistar in 2021 after four seasons with Bahrain and has spent six years as the Spanish team’s leading option for the cobbled Classics and selective one-day races.
His strongest results include a Paris-Nice stage victory in 2020, victory at the 2022 Giro del Piemonte and a stage of the 2025 Vuelta a Asturias. He has also collected a series of solid finishes across the spring without converting that consistency into a major Classic victory.
García Cortina remained Movistar’s obvious reference point across races such as the 2026 E3 Saxo Classic, but joining Alpecin-Premier Tech places him inside a structure built much more directly around the cobbles.
Rather than carrying sole responsibility, he can support Van der Poel and Philipsen while retaining opportunities when the team’s main leaders are absent or the race situation creates a second tactical option.
Alpecin also confirm Van Uden and Mihkels
García Cortina was announced alongside Casper van Uden and Madis Mihkels as Alpecin-Premier Tech’s first three signings for 2027.
Van Uden adds another pure sprint option after developing with Picnic PostNL, while Mihkels brings speed and further one-day potential to the wider Classics group.
García Cortina is the most experienced of the three and arrives with the clearest specialist role. His ability to survive difficult terrain, position a leader and still contribute late in a race should make him especially useful during the Flemish spring.
The move also gives him another opportunity to chase his own result in races where Alpecin can use several cards. His suitability to the rougher one-day events was again clear in ProCyclingUK’s 2026 Paris-Roubaix team-by-team guide, where he entered as Movistar’s principal option.
After six seasons with Movistar, García Cortina now gets the specialist Classics environment he wanted and a final opportunity to turn his long-standing potential on the cobbles into a major result.
