Michel Hessmann will race with the Movistar Team for the next two seasons. Born on April 6, 2001, in Münster, Germany, Michel Hessmann is a versatile cyclist who was part of the mixed relay team that won the gold medal at the 2020 European Championships.
A year later, he was crowned German U23 time trial champion and in 2022 secured another victory in the team time trial during the fifth stage of the Tour de l'Avenir. In June 2023, following a contamination episode, a prohibited substance was detected in Hessmann during an anti-doping test. The WADA and the German National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA Germany) agreed with the cyclist on a twenty-one-month period of ineligibility starting from the sample collection date on June 14, 2023, for an involuntary violation of anti-doping regulations according to German law. Consequently, he will be able to compete with the team starting from March 15.
Here are Michel Hessmann's words: "It means a lot to me to sign with Movistar Team. I am incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to prove my worth for this team with an unparalleled palmares and history in cycling. I think I am a complete rider who adapts well to modern cycling where every race is tackled full-on from start to finish and I am still discovering the type of cyclist I can be, even on the long climbs of grand tours. My goal is to be able to help the team leaders on any terrain, especially in stage races as I did at the Giro, and to grow further as a cyclist, so I hope to start obtaining some results myself."