'You've got that pressure in your head' - Kern Pharma hit final days of Vuelta a España in last-ditch battle to continue in 2027

At a time when local fans are celebrating the renaissance of Enric Mas and the reemergence of Movistar as a major GC player, you might be forgiven for thinking that Spanish cycling is hitting a new high. However, not so far behind the scenes, things are not so looking nearly so rosy for the professional sport.

A few months back when Kern Pharma, a Navarran pharmaceutical company, announced they were going to end their backing of their ProTeam at the end of 2026, there were high hopes that a new sponsor could be found in time for 2027.

Instead, whilst conversations are ongoing on numerous fronts, nothing - yet - has been signed, and as things stand Kern Pharma, a team with a long and distinguished history both as ProTeam and before that as a top feeder amateur team, Lizarte, will be folding. Not only that, the future of Kern's own feeder team, Finisher, is also currently in doubt.

Whilst team manager Juanjo Oroz has given riders and staff carte blanche to look for employment elsewhere, the former Kelme pro is still not throwing in the towel. Even the first round of application deadlines for Pro Teams for 2027 next week is not a definitive one, given squads only pay a small fine if they miss the initial date and then subsequently confirm they will be continuing.

As for the riders, whilst there are rumours, according to Daniel Benson's Substack, that the former Vuelta a España stage winner Urko Berrade will be heading to EF Education-EasyPost, and some staff members have reportedly found new employment, a significant number are just crossing their fingers that they will still be in a job somewhere next year and hopefully at whatever Kern becomes.

"We're after winning a stage every day, and we're trying really hard and showing that we can," Iñigo Elósegui, a 28-year-old allrounder and former U23 Spanish National Champion racing the Vuelta for Kern Pharma, told Cyclingnews.

"But it's true that you've got that pressure and tension in your head about trying to keep the team going for 2027 and that right now we've got nothing for next year and we've got to do as well as we can for the squad. So it's difficult to race like that.

"I'm riding with that pressure, myself, that it could be my last race, and I have to do the best I can. It's been like that for the last few months and it's complicated.

"But the team atmosphere is good and we're working well together and that helps us keep our morale."

Already in one 121 kilometre break through the ultra-hilly stage to Loja - which was how he won the Spanish 23-Nationals all those years ago - the Vuelta is also where Kern Pharma have delivered their standout performances as a collective too.

Two years ago, the squad took no less than three stage wins, the most in the Vuelta for a wildcard team since 2012, and while the squad will continue to race both in the Tour de Langkawi and various Italian and French Classics before the end of the 2027 season, they know the next three days in the Vuelta are the biggest showcase they have left to impress a sponsor. In Elósegui's case, given he's not even sure where he's racing after Sunday, that's even more the case.

The Enric Mas Boom

It's often thought that when top teams and riders in a country are succeeding, as is the case with Enric Mas and the Vuelta a España, there's bound to be some kind of trickle-down benefit for cycling as a whole. But just as the 'trickle-down' theory of economics has been disproven time and again, that's also the case, regrettably in cycling, and Mas and Movistar's boom time does not mean their squad's former feeder team is also feeling the good news vibe.

"It's true there are a lot more public out on the roads and a lot more interest generally thanks to what's happening [with Mas leading the Vuelta], but the thing is, backing a cycling team costs a lot of money," Elósegui points out. "It can't just happen overnight just because it's a great time for Movistar, it's a long-term thing.

"Juanjo, our manager is working very hard on that front but it's very difficult to find a sponsor just like that."

As for the 28-year-old himself, "I'm in good shape. I have a job which isn't so high profile because I'm there to help the teammates behind the scenes as a domestique, but fortunately I'm feeling really good. So I'm happy, and proud but even with good legs, in this kind of situation, it's complicated."

"In the last week, there's not really been many opportunities for breakways, either. It's all high mountains or sprints. I've been working for [Marc] Brustenga, our sprinter as a leadout man, and then I'll try and help get our climbers in the moves in the mountains."

Heading East?

Elósegui has always been very interested in Japanese culture and sport, and he doesn't rule out following the wheeltracks of pros like Rein Taaramae, the former Vuelta a España leader and double stage winner who headed to that country in 2025 to continue his career, in the Estonian's case racing with the Kinan Continental squad.

"I've always liked the country and the culture, and during the pandemic I decided to study Japanese and I travelled there, learning more and more about it. Apart from Keirin, I also follow the racing there in Japan. They've got a lot of good young riders-  they're mostly very explosive because they mostly do circuit racing,  so it's tricky for them adapting to the longer races in Europe.

"But I've thought of maybe trying my luck there, if nothing comes through here," Elósegui says.

"It's true that during the Vuelta, the days are so long we don't really have time for that, once we're through here, I'll see what I can do. But everybody I've talked to about it who's raced there has said they're very happy with it."

That might, then, be a last-minute career solution for Elósegui, grandson of one of the top riders in Spain in the 1960s, José Antonio Momene, fourth overall in one Tour de France and winner of stages in the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España as well as the Dauphiné Libére - now the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. 

But regardless of past glory, the clock is ticking on Kern's future, but Elósegui says there is no fixed date in the team for calling time on a new sponsor. 

"Talking to Juanjo, he says there's no specific date, but if the season ends and we still have nobody, I think it'll be complicated. And in my own case, if I haven't found anything by then, I'll have to call it quits on this and look for work in something else. I have to think in my own future, too."

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.