Formation of a new all-Spanish team?

[Delicato]

This one deserves a new thread.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-meets-with-spanish-prime-minister

Discuss.

 

[josekaubeda]

Oh, I hope so, but we already have Euskaltel and Caisse d'Epargne

 

[rolfrae]

Oh, I hope so, but we already have Euskaltel and Caisse d'Epargne

Euskaltel isn't strictly Spanish, it's Basque and only hires riders with a Basque connection (correct me if I'm wrong). There are of course other Pro Continental Spanish teams. I guess what Contador wants is a Pro Tour level Spanish team with Pro Tour level (mainly Spanish) riders and him as the leader. Are there enough Spaniards at this level to fill another team?

 

[scribe]

'I want one too, and i want it now!!"

 

[craig1985]

Euskaltel isn't strictly Spanish, it's Basque and only hires riders with a Basque connection (correct me if I'm wrong). There are of course other Pro Continental Spanish teams. I guess what Contador wants is a Pro Tour level Spanish team with Pro Tour level (mainly Spanish) riders and him as the leader. Are there enough Spaniards at this level to fill another team?

Your right.

You can ride for Euskatel by being born and bred in the Basque Country; your parents being Basque (Unai Etxebarria who was actually a Venezuelan); or in the case of Samuel Sanchez, your not from the Basque Country but you move there as a junior and ride for one of Euskatel's feeder teams and you go from there. Alberto Contador did this so he would technically count as a 'Basque', not that they could ever afford him.

 

[uphillstruggle]

There was talk around here of Alonso the F1 driver funding a Spanish team.

 

[balkou]

It has to do with Banco Santander, Alonso's personal sponsor.

 

[pmcg76]

I think the Alonso team were aiming for 2011 not 2010. I dont know if there would be enough top Spanirads to form another team. They would need to get a lot of guys from Caisse D'Epargne for it to work.

 

[ThisFrenchGuy]

Not to offend Basque's susceptibility, but Euskaltel is still a Spanish team from an administrative standpoint, so that would weight in the UCI decision I guess. I'm sure there's enough Spanish talent to make another team, but isn't the Pro Tour circuit already crowded with the two new teams in the works?

I know the ONCE ultimately became Astana (1st version), was the infrastructure "merged" into Discotana or could it come back with another sponsor?

 

[cromagnon]

Welcome to the forum cromagnon.

Cheers mate.

That picture is amusing - most politians receive "non-verbal communication coaching" from psychologists/body language experts. They say the person whose hand is on top in a handshake is dominant, and if you are patting someone on the arm or back you're saying (non-verbally) "you're a good little boy, I like you and I am also your father btw".

Contador is totally pwning Zapatero in that picture (non-verbally) with his hand on top and patting him on the back - the only thing I will say is Zapatero has probably realised and is trying to crowd Conta out a bit by leaning into him a little to kinda - "recover the situation".

 

[Murphyscu]

Maybe they can get Manolo Saiz to manage it.

 

[Hammerhed]

For what its worth, Caisse D'Epargne is a French Bank though the team is registered in Spain. I wonder how the rest of the world would take it if an American or Australian group would say, "We're going to have a team that excludes all those of any nationality except native-born Americans (or Australians)"? That bunch would be accused of all manner of rascist, jingoist, and nativist prejudice. Don't misunderstand, I could care less about the Euskadi practice, and I feel they have the right to do whatever they want to do with their cycling team. By the way, by my calculations, they have one win all year, so the policy is not working very well. Ironically, one of their best riders is a hated Spaniard, not a "pursang" Basque, Sammy Sanchez. In fact, none of the "exclusive" teams, those which limit membership by nationality (such as the French to a large degree) seem to do very well. Apparently, cycling is an international sport.

 

[ThisFrenchGuy]

The sponsor might be french but it is basically the Banesto, filled with spanish riders... CE may also have interest in Spain (the are the majority shareholder in a Portuguese bank).

French teams may have a lot of french riders but they often had "high profile" foreign riders (relative to their budget). AG2R had Efimkin (leader) and Nocentini this year. Cofidis had Millar, Julich. Wiggins went on 3 french team including the Crédit Agricole which had Voigt and Hushvold.

I am not sure French teams are more "closed" than others. Most teams in the Pro Tour have a very distinctive national flavor, save for Astana. Cycling sponsors often have to appeal to a national market, hence the recruitment, esp. for domestiques.

As for Euskaltel-Euskadi, in their defense, the talent pool in Basque country is de facto limited. They are more or less faithful in animating moutains stages though.

 

[craig1985]

For what its worth, Caisse D'Epargne is a French Bank though the team is registered in Spain. I wonder how the rest of the world would take it if an American or Australian group would say, "We're going to have a team that excludes all those of any nationality except native-born Americans (or Australians)"? That bunch would be accused of all manner of rascist, jingoist, and nativist prejudice. Don't misunderstand, I could care less about the Euskadi practice, and I feel they have the right to do whatever they want to do with their cycling team. By the way, by my calculations, they have one win all year, so the policy is not working very well. Ironically, one of their best riders is a hated Spaniard, not a "pursang" Basque, Sammy Sanchez. In fact, none of the "exclusive" teams, those which limit membership by nationality (such as the French to a large degree) seem to do very well. Apparently, cycling is an international sport.

Try again.