Movistar confirm split with Pinarello
Spanish team yet to confirm bike supplier for 2014
Movistar team boss Eusebio Unzué has confirmed that his team will not ride Pinarello bikes in 2014. The move brings to an end roughly 30 years of collaboration between the giants of the Italian bicycle manufacturing and the Spanish team.
Rumours of a split had been circulating for some time but earlier this week a Pinarello spokesperson told Cyclingnews that a deal was still being negotiated.
However any contract negotiations appear to be over. Speaking to Cyclingnews on Wednesday Unzue said, "We aren't continuing with them. We've got various different offers on the table and we will make an official position for which sponsor we're with next Sunday."
Pinarello announced last month that they had signed a contract extension with the British outfit, Team Sky. The Italian company has sponsored professional teams since the 1960s, including Telekom, Fassa Bortolo, and Unzué's teams.
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.