Lack of Funding Forces Cycling Team Euskaltel Euskadi to Close

August 21, 2013

A lack of funding has cased Basque cycling team Euskaltel Euskadi to close down at the end of the current season.

The economic crisis is being blamed for the funding shortage and the news is a blow to Spanish cycling, ed just days ahead of the Vuelta a Espana which starts on Saturday.

A statement from the team read: “Euskaltel Euskadi will not continue next season. The introduction of a second sponsor, capsule essential to guarantee the sustainability of the team, has not come to pass, making it unfeasible for the team to continue from the start of next year, although it will wholly complete the sporting calendar for 2013.”

Local government withdrew its €3.5m ($4.6m) public funding due to spending cuts which forced the team’s main sponsor Euskaltel to look for another sponsor to help with the running costs.

This has not been forthcoming and Euskatel has now committed to funding the money needed for the season, which takes their contribution to €7m ($9.3m) of the team’s €9m ($12m) budget.

However, the telecommunications firm has said this investment is unsustainable and released a statement that read: “Today is a sad day for Euskaltel, the team, the current sponsors, fans and all that have supported this project.

“We regret that no other company or entity have decided to bet on this team, well-established in the elite of world cycling.”