Gazprom-RusVelo manager sets March 27 deadline to save team

Gazprom-RusVelo manager Renat Khamidulin has said that the team will shutter for good if the squad is unable to return to competition or find new sponsorship by March 27.

The team, currently sponsored by the Russian state-majority owned energy consortium, was forced to stop competing at the start of the month after the UCI implemented a competition ban on Russian and Belarusian teams and events.

Gazprom-RusVelo, which rostered nine Russians and 12 foreign riders, was the highest-profile casualty of the ban, while Continental squads Vozrozhdenie, CCN Factory Racing and Minsk Cycling Club have also been put out of action by the move.

Speaking in an Instagram Live interview, Khamidulin explained that he has been in contact with the UCI as he looked for solutions for Gazprom-RusVelo to return to competition. However, according to Khamidulin, the governing body have failed to respond to the team.

"The UCI explained that two things weren't right – the sponsor Gazprom and the name RusVelo, which evokes Russia," Khamidulin said. "I explained that the team is based in Italy, the management company is based in Switzerland, and the sponsor is Gazprom Germany.

"We offered to race with a white jersey and a message of peace, but this was not enough for the UCI. We looked for a dialogue and we wrote to them, but the UCI did not even answer us."

Last week Khamidulin said that the team had switched their cars and jerseys to a plain all-white colour scheme "to bring a message of peace to the Trofeo Laigueglia", but with the ban announced the night before the race they were unable to take part in the one-day race.

The team's bike and wheel suppliers Look and Corima had pulled support before the ban, while the team's Italian rider Alessandro Fedeli has decried the ban, saying his "dreams are shattered".

"Ours is a healthy, competitive and winning team. We can count on an effective group of staff, and I think this can be an important starting point for an interested sponsor," Khamidulin said.

"We are doing our best, but we had a meeting with the whole team and, unfortunately, I was clear – if there are not alternatives by March 27, we will have to close."

It's unclear whether, under the terms of the UCI's ban, the team would be able to re-register in another country mid-season should they find new sponsorship.

In the statement confirming the ban, the UCI said they would study measures to allow non-Russian and Belarusian staff and riders to register with other teams. However, the UCI hasn't publicly given any updates on that to date.

Cyclingnews has contacted the UCI for clarification on these points and Khamidulin's claims.