Euskaltel-Euskadi to disband
Euskaltel-Euskadi, the Basque team that currently hosts riders such as Samuel Sanchez and Igor Anton, have been forced to disband at the end of the current season. This is apparently due to the lack of a second sponsor, which they say is vital to the running of the team. This also dispels the rumour that Oleg Tinkov, currently half owner of Team Saxo-Tinkoff, was in talks to bail the team out.
The team is the latest high profile team to disband, adding to HTC-Highroad, who also disbanded at the end of the 2011 campaign. It is also not the first example of a high profile, long serving sponsor to pull out from the sport. Rabobank did just so at the end of last year, along with Liquigas. In those instances the teams could be saved.
Euskaltel had been struggling for the past couple of seasons with gaining enough points to stay in the UCI World Tour, and had even broken their self-regulation that only Basque associated riders could be signed by them, in order to gain the necessary points to stay in cycling's top tier. However, the venture has not worked, and so far it has been a quiet season on the road for them.
The telecommunications company behind the team, Euskaltel, had been struggling due to the austerity in the Basque region, and was unable to provide the necessary funding for the team - it had already been forced to sell a team bus in order to keep in operations. Riders and staff were informed in a meeting that took place on Monday, and the disbanding was confirmed by Basque Cycling Pro Team on Tuesday morning.
The news leaves a number of staff and riders in the mire for next year, who are unsure of where they will be working. 14 riders are thought to be under contract for 2014 under the current team, but they will now be forced to look elsewhere. The biggest speculation will probably be surrounding 2008 Beijing gold medallist Samuel Sanchez, the team's flagship rider, who also took the polka dot jersey at the 2011 Tour de France.
Nonetheless, it's a sad day for the Basque Country, and cycling in general, as the boys in orange will no longer be seen animating the mountain stages of cycling's biggest races.