Movistar rider quits team two years early to join influx of Netcompany Ineos signings

Netcompany Ineos have announced that Spanish all-rounder and former WorldTour stage winner Javier Romo has signed with the British team for two years.

The rider from Toledo has reached a joint agreement with his current team, Movistar, to end his contract two years early.

Romo, 27, won a stage in the Tour Down Under back in 2025, with a solo breakaway. That is his only pro win to date, but he has raced five Grand Tours, most recently the Tour de France this summer, where he was on the attack on the first stage to Alpe d'Huez and finished 54th overall. Romo also picked up a top ten GC finish in Itzulia Basque Country this spring, finishing seventh.

Already reported by Daniel Benson's Substack as in the offing over the summer, Romo's WorldTour team switch comes as Movistar continue to renovate their line-up with a fresh generation of riders. Whilst the Spanish squad's oldest signing for 2027 is Iván Cobo, 26, from Kern Pharma, other new names include riders as young as Javier Cubillas, who will move straight from the Movistar Academy squad to the senior team at 19.

Netcompany Ineos, meanwhile, are also making significant changes to their line-up, with eight new signings and nine confirmed departures or retirements to date. Romo will be their third new Spanish signing for 2027 after Markel Beloki and Benjamin Noval.

Just a few hours after the Tour de Guangxi, his last race in which he finished 12th, had ended, Movistar already announced that Romo would be leaving the squad, and that rider and team had agreed to end his contract early.

“Javier is a really strong rider, who’s impressed us ever since he came onto the scene," Geraint Thomas, Director of Racing, said in a Netcompany Ineos team press release.

"He’s proven himself at WorldTour level and developed into an experienced all-rounder who can make a real difference across a range of races."

Romo turned pro with Astana back in 2021 before joining Movistar at the start of 2024.

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