Nat Bromhead
Young Aussie cycling powerhouse Sarah Gigante is moving to Movistar, the 20yo signing a three-year deal with the Spanish superteam.
Sarah, who has already amassed three Australian elite titles – one at the road race, in 2019, and two time trial championships, in 2020 and 2021 consecutively – said she is incredibly excited to be joining the team.
“And for so many different reasons that I can’t even list them all!” She said.
“The top drawcard is definitely the squad of awesome riders that I will have the privilege of calling my teammates. I am sure I will be able to learn an incredible amount from the more experienced cyclists and it will be fun to help them smash out wins while hopefully also developing my own racecraft and strength alongside the other up-and-coming riders.”
‘Big Fan Of AVV’
“I have been a fan of Annemiek van Vleuten in particular for so many years and it feels quite surreal to think that we will be teammates very soon! I still remember lining up to get a photo with her in Belgium just two years ago.”
Juggling racing and studying her Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Geography with Melbourne University, Gigante’s progression has seen her becoming one of the biggest up-and-coming talents in the WorldTour. She is skilled for many different terrains and notably talented for time trials.
“Sarah is one of the biggest under-23 prospects in the whole international peloton right now,” said Sebastian Unzue of Movistar.
“She’s a really well rounded athlete, who defends herself brilliantly against the clock, who loves the mountains, and one whom I think will be a huge asset to the team from day one.”
“Our initial goal with her must be to help her out and guide her so she can become the best rider she can be – in that respect, I think that having her riding alongside big leaders, such as Annemiek or Emma, will be really positive for her progression. Hopefully, the road to 2024 will see her growing strong and establishing herself as one of the biggest names in the sport.”
Gigante concluded by saying she particularly enjoyed attritional races, and especially looked forward to racing in mountainous terrain.
“I really enjoy time trialling too, and have focused quite a lot on that discipline over the past two years,” she added. “I love that the Movistar Team has such a flexible squad that seems to be able to excel in so many types of races.
“I think I will fit well inside the team for this reason, as the idea of adapting to different and exciting roles, races and situations really appeals to me.”
