Benfica riders Cândido Barbosa and José Azevedo (Image credit: João Dias)
João Lagos, the president of Lagos Bikes, announced the end of the Portuguese cycling team Benfica on Friday.
"The projects has to be stopped due to the lack of sponsors. We were not able to find a family of sponsors," confessed Lagos according to the Portuguese newspaper Jornal Record. He would have liked the team to continue. "You have to know how to win and how to lose, and in this case we were not able to win. You have to have courage to make certain decisions."
Lagos is proud of the project he was able to lead for two years, taking the team into the Professional Continental status – one step below the highest level of the sport. "I believe that cycling won with our team. We did fantastic work. I only lament that none of the other teams followed our path of returning [Portuguese Cycling] to a high level."
Some of the riders have already find new team, amongst them Javier Benítez and Rubén Plaza who will ride for Contentpolis - Ampo. A big problem was Cândido Barbosa, who had signed a contract for the seasons of 2008 and 2009. Lagos Bike searched for a new team for him, and the 34 year-old finally signed a contract with the team Palmeiras Resort Tavira. (MP)
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