Monday, July 15, 2013

Galdeano - The team is falling apart















According to team boss Igor González de Galdeano, many of Euskaltel's riders are on the verge of leaving the team as we speak.

One of them is, not surprisingly, Mikel Nieve, he told Radio Euskadi on Sunday, according to BiciCiclismo.

The team's economic woes are well known by now, and the team head didn't sound overly optimistic about its future.

"The project's instability is complicating things. I don't know how many riders we'll have come the end of the Tour", he's quoted as saying. "This situation has made for a complicated Tour for us. We're going through hard times within the team, and I think we'll have few riders in the team when we finish the Tour.

"It's hard to keep the team together, but that's only normal. When you tell riders who've signed for three years that the team might be gone in six months, you make them nervous and uncertain. Everyone has to do what's best for their future".

The Tour traditionally marks the unofficial opening of the cycling transfer market. Right now, that's harming the team, he claims.

"We're being destabilized, and complicated situations are arising. The Tour is the best showcase, and the riders are nervous. Little by little the team is falling apart".

Mikel Nieve pleased the followers of the team by claiming third on the Ventoux on Sunday, but that might soon be a thing of the past.

"He's one of a kind and he had a great ride. He's a great rider, but I'm afraid he won't be with us anymore come July the 21st".

According to reports, Nieve is about to sign for Bjarne Riis and Saxo-Tinkoff. So far, though, nothing has been confirmed nor denied.

10 comments:

Michael said...

Why Mikel of all people? I hoped he would be Samu's successor and come into his inheritance!
Now he will be A.C.'s right-hand man.
It's a great pity!

Unknown said...

Ugh. this is a punch in the gut to wake up to this morning. Good for Mikel, I wish him the best (along with others who may be leaving) can't really blame them.

This all sorts of sucks.

Kristof said...

Thanks Galdeano to destroy our team.

Anonymous said...

I do not understand why nobody wants to save this team? Orbea? Mondragon? I do not know ......... Anyone!
I'm not from the Basque Country but I really love this team! For me, road cycling means EUSKALTE EUSKADI.
Pity!

Kristof said...

It's tragic. Been a fan since 2000 and this in a fanatic way. To me the cycling races brought me one question, how are the orange boys doing? Can't imagine watching a race without my favourite team. Feels as something is dying. So many things went wrong. Surely Galdeano is to blame, but also some riders which we thought were great talents did disappoint too much. All those orange fans on the mountains will be missed in the future. Hm:-(.

Anonymous said...

This is not the news I wanted to hear, but I wish all the riders luck with their future teams. It makes my small Euskaltel jersey collection even more special now.

Unknown said...

Agree on Mondragon Corp., Anon.

If there is any savior for this team, they need to look in this direction. Iberdrola would make sense from a marketing perspective, seeing as how they are desperately trying to penetrate the U.S. market (i'm not keen on what their financial situation is tho)

But there is nothing more Basque, and hardly anything to be more proud of AS a basque in these awful economic times, than the Mondragon Co-op. Familiars in the cycling world like: Eroski, Fagor, and our friends at Orbea are all members of the still thriving co-op. Maybe it's time to bring it all under one 'el paraguas' as a sponsor. It would be a terrific symbol of unity for Euskal Herria as well as really getting their name out there in the intl. market. Would also set a great example for proper intl. business practices.

Go all out Igor. Time is wasting...

gasherbrum3 said...

What about being progressive and asking Mondragon for help/takeover the team at

Pº Jose Mª Arizmendiarrieta nº 5
20500 Mondragon - Gipuzkoa
Tel: 34 943 779 300
Fax 34 943 796 632

?

Maybe every fax counts.

hoerpi said...

To me Iberdrola is the optimal partner. With profits at 2.8 billion euro (2012) they have the resources to spend 4-5 million on Euskaltel. Added to that their head office is in Bilbao.

Unknown said...

Here's Mondragon:

http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/CAS/Contacto.aspx

And Iberdrola's main office:

http://www.torreiberdrola.es/#contactopie

Not like it will do any good, but shame them into sponsoring EE!!

 

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