EuskaltelâEuskadi (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. EuskaltelâEuskadi 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 EuskaltelâEuskadi.
In the 2005 season the team recruited
Aitor GonzĂĄlez, who won the
Tour de Suisse. They again failed to make an impression in the
2005 Tour de France. In 2006 the sporting director JuliĂĄn Gorospe was replaced by
Igor GonzĂĄlez de Galdeano, who became technical secretary. EuskaltelâEuskadi 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
IvĂĄn 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 FundaciĂłn 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]
^
abcdeBelbin, Giles (October 2018). "Jersey Tales No6: Euskaltel-Euskadi. With rider development as its core purpose, the Basque outfit built a cult following during its time in the pro ranks". Cyclist: The Thrill of the Ride. 079: 35â36.