Euskaltel-Euskadi
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| UCI code | EUS |
|---|---|
| Registered | Spain |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Disbanded | 2013 |
| Discipline | Road |
| Status | UCI ProTeam |
| Bicycles | Orbea |
| Website | Team home page |
| Team manager(s) | 2009: Josu Larrazabal 2014: Miguel Madariaga |
| 1994 1995–1997 1998–2013 |
Euskadi-Petronor Equipo Euskadi Euskaltel-Euskadi |
Euskaltel–Euskadi (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, Cantabria and the French Basque Country, or who had grown up in the cycling culture of those regions: This policy was abandoned to enable retention of World Tour status. Its sponsor was Euskaltel, a Basque telecom company. Euskaltel–Euskadi 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 Euskaltel–Euskadi.
Euskadi was established in 1994, and has been recognizable among the peloton for their bright orange kit. After a 2003 Tour de France breakthrough success during which both Iban Mayo and Haimar Zubeldia finished in the top-10 of the general classification, with Mayo winning the prized Alpe d'Huez stage. Euskaltel–Euskadi was considered to be a strong contender for the 2004 Tour de France as well. Iban Mayo's commanding victory in the 2004 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage race (traditionally seen as one of the tests for Tour de France contenders), including defeating Lance Armstrong in the Mont Ventoux hill climb individual time trial stage, further fueled the hype. Unfortunately, Mayo was injured in a crash on a pavé section of an early stage of the Tour de France, and abandoned in the first Pyrénées stage. Zubeldia also failed to deliver in the 2004 Tour de France, to the chagrin of Basque fans lining the road. "I wish that our uniform was not so easy to spot," admitted directeur sportif Julián Gorospe.
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