Euskaltel's future assured

As has been rumoured for quite a while, telephone company Euskaltel will indeed keep the team alive next year.

So reports Basque newspaper Gara. According to the trustworthy daily, Fundacion Euskadi president and General Manager of Euskaltel-Euskadi, Miguel Madariaga, along with main directeur sportif Gorka Gerrikagoitia, visited the riders during the recent Giro d'Italia to inform the riders that their team would continue to exist beyond the current season.

It's not official as of yet, but it's expected that the telecommunications giant will go public with their plans in a few weeks' time.

"They (Madariaga and Gerrikagoitia) gave us peace of mind by informing us that the team would go one in one way or another", Giro hero Ion Izagirre said. "We don't know the make-up of the team though."

Team leader in the Giro, Mikel Nieve, added that "perhaps we will know more in a few days. Let's hope we get lucky and everyone on the team can stay on".

There is no further news on whether the team will change its Basque-only philosophy.

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