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Spanish cycling team From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Euskaltel–Euskadi (UCI team code: EUS) was a professional road bicycle racing team from Spain, Europe. The team was commercially sponsored, but was also partly funded by the Basque Government until the end of 2013, with riders either from the Basque Country, Navarre, La Rioja, and the French Basque Country, or who had grown up in the cycling culture of those regions:[1][2] This policy was abandoned to enable retention of World Tour status. Its sponsor was Euskaltel, a Basque telecom company. Euskaltel–Euskadi was famous for its all-orange team kits. Whenever the Tour de France passed through the Basque Country many spectators lined the route dressed in the team's orange or the colours of the Basque flag. The Euskaltel team also has a second team inside the "Fundacion Euskadi", this team rode in a continental category, the name of the team was Orbea. This team was created with the aim of forming the young cyclist before going to the Euskaltel–Euskadi.
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| Team information | ||
|---|---|---|
| UCI code | EUS | |
| Registered | Spain | |
| Founded | 1994 | |
| Disbanded | 2013 | |
| Discipline(s) | Road | |
| Status | UCI ProTeam | |
| Bicycles | Orbea | |
| Website | Team home page | |
| Key personnel | ||
| Team manager(s) | 2009: Josu Larrazabal 2014: Miguel Madariaga | |
| Team name history | ||
1994 1995–1997 1998–2013 | Euskadi-Petronor Equipo Euskadi Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
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Following the creation of the Euskadi Cycling Foundation (June 1993), Euskadi was established in 1994 (as Euskadi-Petronor), and has been recognizable among the peloton for their bright orange kit (which developed later in the team's history).[3] After a financially turbulent first few seasons, in which the team was on the brink of folding multiple times, they secured their long term and most successful sponsor Euskaltel.[3] By 1999, with Roberto Laiseka winning the team's first Grand Tour stage win this investment had paid off.[3] In 2001 they were invited to the Tour de France and achieved another victory for Laiseka in the Pyrénées.[3]
After a 2003 Tour de France breakthrough success during which both Iban Mayo and Haimar Zubeldia finished in the top-10 of the general classification, with Mayo winning the prized Alpe d'Huez stage. Euskaltel–Euskadi was considered to be a strong contender for the 2004 Tour de France as well. Iban Mayo's commanding victory in the 2004 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage race (traditionally seen as one of the tests for Tour de France contenders), including defeating Lance Armstrong in the Mont Ventoux hill climb individual time trial stage, further fueled the hype. Unfortunately, Mayo was injured in a crash on a pavé section of an early stage of the Tour de France, and abandoned in the first Pyrénées stage. Zubeldia also failed to deliver in the 2004 Tour de France, to the chagrin of Basque fans lining the road. "I wish that our uniform was not so easy to spot," admitted directeur sportif Julián Gorospe.
In the 2005 season the team recruited Aitor González, who won the Tour de Suisse. They again failed to make an impression in the 2005 Tour de France. In 2006 the sporting director Julián Gorospe was replaced by Igor González de Galdeano, who became technical secretary. Euskaltel–Euskadi ranked 13th in the UCI World Tour rankings among 18 teams, but only the top 15 teams automatically qualify for the World Tour for the following year (source?). The other teams qualify based on a variety of criteria, including team points and a dedication to clean racing, but the most important are points earned by individual riders.
Under points pressure, Euskaltel confirmed in 2012 that it would break with its long-standing policy of signing a majority of Basque riders and would employ riders of other countries to assure its UCI World Tour standing. This has had knock on effects for the makeup of other traditionally Basque teams such as Orbea and Caja Rural. For example, in the 2013 season Euskaltel's Amets Txurruka and Iván Velasco moved to Caja Rural.[4]
The withdrawal of sponsorship via government funds prompted the team to announce it would be unable to continue after the 2013 season. In September 2013 Formula One racing driver Fernando Alonso expressed a wish to ensure the team's survival by buying their UCI World Tour license[5] but reached no agreement with the team.[6]
In 2018 Mikel Landa, the President of the Euskadi Cycling Foundation, established Team Fundación Euskadi on the Continental tour.[3] In 2020, Euskaltel revived its sponsorship, thereby rebranding the team with the name of its predecessor, Euskaltel-Euskadi.[7]
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Spain Time Trial Championship, Iñigo González de Heredia
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