'No cameras, no expectations, that's when you worry' - Iván Romeo embraces the spotlight

Iván Romeo (Movistar) has revealed that he thrives under the spotlight as one of Spain’s current star talents, as Spanish Cycling looks to evolve from the previous golden era of riders. 

"I'm a bit strange in that sense, and I like being in the spotlight, and I like having the pressure. I think I handle it well, also because things have gone quite well for me. Maybe if I have a bad year, I won't like it so much," said Romeo in an interview with MARCA. "If there are no cameras and no expectations, that's when you have to worry."

The 22-year-old enjoyed a standout season for Movistar, which included three victories and a Tour de France debut. Among those victories was a stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné, which also gave him the race leader’s yellow jersey for a stage. Romeo further emphasised his talent by soloing to victory at the Spanish national championships before gaining valuable experience, racing a combative debut Tour de France.

Based on this, Romeo plans to follow a similar race programme in 2026, with the Tour de France as his main target. "If everything goes well, I'll have a calendar quite similar to last year's," said Romeo. "I'll repeat quite a few races, and theoretically, if everything goes well, I'll do the Tour."

Romeo explained how he sees the challenge of racing in an era dominated by serial winners, including Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel.

"When Pogacar or Remco are like that, it's very complicated. We're aware of that," said Romeo. "You have to try to find your opportunities when they're not there. And when they are there, you still have to find your opportunities, although they're much fewer."

The Spanish champion was also realistic about expectations on current Spanish riders following the golden era of Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodríguez, and Samuel Sánchez.

"Spain is a country that has always been a global powerhouse in cycling, and it's not easy coming from the era of Bala [Valverde], Alberto [Contador], Purito [Rodríguez], and Samuel Sánchez," Romeo said. 

"Cycling has improved so much that in the end, it's going to be very difficult for four of the ten best riders in the world to be Spanish, as it was in the past. Now everything is much more globalised, and it's much more difficult."

Romeo also addressed the recent provisional suspension of fellow Spaniard and former teammate Oier Lazkano following biological passport abnormalities, highlighting cycling’s increased emphasis on doping controls, something Mark Cavendish also discussed in a recent interview with talkSPORT.

"The teams pay more to WADA than any other sport so that they conduct more tests on us than on everyone else. We want it to be this way because the sport has had a very bad past and I think it's heading in the right direction,” said Romeo.

Looking ahead to 2026, with the start of a new three-year UCI team ranking, Romeo believes that his team have plenty of young riders with room to grow. Movistar ended the most recent cycle in 14th place with 31,078 points, 4,754 ahead of Uno-X Mobility, who finished 19th, securing the last WorldTour invitation because of the merger between Lotto and Intermarché-Wanty.

"Well, it's an important year. Another three-year points cycle and everything else begins. And it's a year the team wants to do very well and is making significant changes," said Romeo.

"I think this year we've done things very well and have been very strong in many places, but we've always lacked the finishing touch," said Romeo. "It's a very young team, so another year of experience, another year of racing together, another year of improving, can really make the difference."