One of the World’s First Professional Cycling Teams Spain’s Eskaltel Euskadi Disbands

Spanish professional cycling team Euskaltel Euskadi said Tuesday that it will disband at the end of this season after failing to secure a second sponsor for 2014.

“From this moment on Euskaltel will start an orderly and responsible close down of the project including immediate negotiations to free up the members of the team,” the team said in a statement.

Euskaltel Euskadi will compete in the 2013 Tour of Spain, which begins Saturday.

The Basque squad is led by 2008 Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez, Igor Anton and Mikel Nieve.

With 17 consecutive seasons, Euskaltel Euskadi is the oldest team “in the elite world of cycling,” the team noted in its statement.

The team’s sponsor, Spanish cable operator Euskaltel, doubled its support from 3.5 million euros ($4.67 million) to 7 million euros this year, but the company was unable to continue that level of funding into 2014, the squad said.

The departure of Euskaltel Euskadi will leave Movistar as the only Spanish team on the 2014 UCI World Tour circuit.

Published in Latino Daily News