Galdeano - The Euskaltel jersey will never be seen in the Tour again
Sunday's final stage to the Champs-Élysées is the last time that Euskaltel will take part in the biggest bike race on earth.
So says team head Igor González de Galdeano. The team's future's been up in the air for some time, and it now seems it's over. For good.
"This is the last time the Euskaltel jersey will be in the Tour de France", he tells Bilbao-daily El Correo. "No sponsors have visited us during the race. The public institutions have not stepped up and, from what I can tell, they're not going to step up".
What's more: with no support from the regional institutions, telecommunications giant Euskaltel will also withdraw their sponsorship.
"If there's no economic project, there won't be a sporting project", he says.
After 13 consecutive appearances in the Tour, Galdeano et al. appear to have come to the metaphorical end of the road.
That's not so say there won't be a team at all next year, but it appears it'll be distinctly different from the present outfit.
"There are sponsors interested in this project, that it keeps going, but it'll be different", he explains. "Sponsors are ready to come on board, but they have to step forward.
"But it will be a wholly different set-up - not remotely close to this one".
4 comments:
The times, they are a-changin'. Truly beyond words how dissapointing this is to hear. Looks like we're headed for a train wreck and a real gutting of all our talent.
Will they even get to race in la Vuelta? Seems like that 45 day timeframe conflicts with the race, no?
Gutted losing a great team to the TDF (7th) and great riders, all the best for the future
The deadline is "only" for finding a sponsor. They'll complete the racing season
There has been an air of inevitability about this for so long now. I really hoped that last year it had been sorted out for a few more seasons at least but without another major sponsor (like Festina) you had to fear the worst.
So sad....so much fun to have been part of it via this site, wearing the kit, supporting MY team...I’m really going to miss it, pro cycling just won’t be the same without them
And what of the riders? What will Samu do now? Nieve will be ok, probably the brothers too but I think that the others will struggle to find teams...
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