Five years after the demise of the Euskaltel-Euskadi squad, Basque cycling is back in the pro ranks in 2018, with locally-based teams racing at Pro Continental and Continental level.
This Thursday, in the first of the four one-day races that make up the Challenge de Mallorca, a small but important landmark will be reached. The Euskadi-Murias team will race for the first time as a ProContinental squad, while Fundación Euskadi, a separate squad in the Continental category, will be making their debut in the same race.
The 'promotion' of both teams is more than welcome news for both Basque and Spanish cycling, which has seen race after race disappear and sponsors dry up in the country’s worst economic crisis in half a century. But in 2018, even though some races like the Vuelta a Murcia are experiencing economic problems, there are some encouraging signs.
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Movisar are still the only Spanish professional team in the WorldTour, but at Pro Continental level, the number of squads has tripled from just Caja Rural-Seguros RGA to three, with Euskadi-Murias and Burgos-BH both moving up a level to join the long-standing Navarran squad in cycling’s ‘second division’. At Continental level, two new squads have moved into the category: Alberto Contador’s Polartec Kometa and the Fundación Euskadi.
For fans, there could be some confusion, given that Euskadi Basque Country-Murias is not the only professional Basque team with the name Euskadi this season. Previously run by Miguel Madariaga, the former Euskaltel-Euskadi general manager, as an amateur squad after the professional team folded in 2013, the Fundación Euskadi – like Euskadi-Murias – also works closely with the grassroots Basque cycling scene.
Given that Mikel Landa, a former Euskaltel-Euskadi rider, has taken over as the Fundación’s president, the team seems sure to generate interest. At its 2018 launch last week, Vuelta a España boss Javier Guillén was among the VIP guests.
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You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/euskadi-murias-aiming-at-vuelta-a-espana-in-debut-pro-continental-season
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