EF Pro Cycling

Nineteen-year-old Markel Beloki returns to EF Education-EasyPost for his second professional season. Last year, his calendar was a mix of one-day and stage races, designed to give the youngster exposure to WorldTour racing.

Still growing into his talents, Markel was an accomplished junior racer who won five of Spain’s biggest junior races, including the national time trial championships.

Long term, Markel’s dream is to be a three-week racer. He has believed that he can compete in races like the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and Vuelta a España ever since he dropped his dad on their favorite climb, the Zaldiaran, just outside his hometown, Vitoria-Gasteiz. Markel’s dad is the Basque cycling legend Joseba Beloki, who finished on the podium of the Tour de France three times.

Markel is too young to remember watching his dad race. He was two when his father hung up his racing bike. Markel has only seen his dad's famous attacks on YouTube. But, as soon as Markel was old enough to ride, his dad would take him out into the hills of the Basque Country. There was never any pressure on Markel to race. He just loved it. At first, he liked beating his friends to the tops of local mountains. When he was 12, Markel joined a local club and started racing for real. He often rode with his dad, who taught him how to be a cyclist.

Now, Markel hopes to eclipse him.

He doesn’t want to get ahead of himself though. He is going to stay in school, doing his studies online, and just focus on getting better day by day on his bike.