Euskaltel anno 2013 is here

The Euskaltel Euskadi roster for the fast-approaching season was presented to the public today, and General Manager Igor González de Galdeano took time out to reveal the Tour de France is not the team's main goal

Neither is the Vuelta al País Vasco. Instead, the team's overriding goal will be to keep their place in the WorldTour - something they'll do, of course, with the help of the bunch of foreign riders brought in over the winter. All riders were present, as were staff, local cycling clubs, representatives for equipment providers and a select few local politicians.

As expected, rather than talking about the racing itself, Euskaltel president Alberto García Erauzkin spent most of the time insisting the team is still very much Basque to the core, despite the team's much-debated abandonment of the Basque-only philosophy.

"This team is unique, what with a sports project that represents a country and values like effort, sacrifice, compromise, team spirit and humility", García Erauzkin said. "It's a team for everyone. It's a team for the Basque cantera, so that as many Basque cyclists as possible can ride at the WorldTour level.

"We represent a people, a way of doing and thinking about things, values that we're proud of, and we have a unique fan base. There's no team like this; we can promote the name of our country all over the world".

Further, Galdeano went on to confirm Samuel Sánchez will make the Giro d'Italia his primary goal, while also stating that both Mikel Nieve and Igor Antón will be present at the Tour de France. There was also time to pay homage to fallen riders Víctor Cabedo and Iñaki Lejarreta.

Photos of the new riders wearing their Euskaltel jerseys can be found here.

Watch a short video of the act here:


Photo: Orbea