Euskaltel wasn't expected to find the hills long enough for their taste. (Image credit: Elmar Krings)
Euskaltel-Euskadi is not enthusiastic about riding the Giro d'Italia in 2011, but will do so if it has to. Shortly after team manager Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano told a Spanish newspaper that he would prefer not to send a team to Italy, the team issued a statement saying that they would abide by their obligations to the International Cycling Union (UCI).
Gonzalez de Galdeano told the Spanish website gara.net that the team was negotiating with the UCI to allow it to skip the Giro, as the evidence shows that “we suffer too much riding three Grand Tours.”
The Basque team skipped the Giro this year, and Gonzalez de Galdeano noted that this year they had a successful year “in terms of victories and as a whole. It will be difficult to match or surpass.”
Euskaltel-Euskadi finished 13th overall in the UCI's team rankings for 2010. It had 17 victories on the season, including three at the Vuelta a Espana.
In a statement subsequently issued on its website, the team said that it would “as always, abide by the UCI regulations that apply for the 2011 calendar and if it specifies that it is mandatory to participate in the Giro d'Italia,” the team will do that.
Gonzalez de Galdeano said that the “hypothetical absence in the Giro d'Italia” was based on a thorough analysis of how the team has done in the recent past.” However, now “the team has grown and become stronger in the future it is prepared to participate in the Giro d'Italia with the maximum competitiveness.”
Team president Miguel Madariaga met with Giro organizer Angelo Zomegnan “to explain this situation in person and strengthen the excellent relationship between both entities.
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