Maté: The Return from His Last Vuelta

September, La Vuelta 2024 comes to an end in Madrid. Luis Ángel Maté crosses the finish line for the last time as a professional cyclist. Dozens of people approach him to greet him, take photos, and wish him good luck. Pretty standard. However, there’s something that stands out in Luis’s case: those who approach him also hug him tightly.
Because Maté is a great teammate, a charismatic rider, and an exceptional human.

One day after completing 3,265 kilometers of racing, this “true cyclist” sets off for Marbella on his Orbea Orca: three days and six hundred-something kilometers on the bike. We join him on his journey home to enjoy his company and get to know him better as comes back home from La Vuelta.

Maté says he has been very happy all these years, and it’s impossible not to believe him when you see the sparkle in his eyes, so bright that they hide no trace of sadness about closing such a fantastic chapter. He has made plans and knows exactly what he’ll do once he gets off the bike: get back on.

It’s easy to be carried away by his passion, and difficult not to love him. The love seems mutual. Most of the kilometers of his career, from his amateur days to turning pro, from his time with Cofidis to his retirement with Euskaltel, he has spent on an Orbea.
His values align with the cooperative spirit of Mallabia, where deep connection to the land and collaborative work are the core reasons for being.

Now, he wants to enjoy the landscape at his own pace, to stop, travel, discover places, and talk to people—both new acquaintances and those who love him.

We don’t know what his next adventure will be, but we do know it will be on a bicycle, and we will be there whenever he needs us.
Together with his brother Raúl, who has shared this return journey, we finally reach his home, surrounded by his loved ones, his children, his family.

We leave Luis at the beach, after looking through his eyes and falling a little more in love with cycling thanks to him.