Due to the impossibility of its first backer, Colombia’s Sports Ministry “Coldeportes”, to confirm the necessary funding to continue the cycling activity at the highest level, Team Colombia-Coldeportes and its General ManagerClaudio Corti regretfully announce that the only South-American Pro Continental team in cycling will not line up at the start of the 2016 season.

The road of the Escarabajos comes to an end after four years competing against the biggest names and teams in World cycling, in which Claudio Corti’s team brought the name of Colombia back on the scene, taking part in some of the biggest races in the World. In its four-year span, Team Colombia-Coldeportes participated in two Giro d’Italia, one Vuelta a Espana, four Giro di Lombardia, two Milano-Sanremo, one Liegi-Bastogne-Liegi, two Tirreno-Adriatico – to mention some of the most notable fixtures. 

In four years, the team achieved eleven wins, launching on the big stage talented riders such as Esteban Chaves,Darwin Atapuma and Jarlinson Pantano, who are now established at the World Tour level, the top circuit in cycling. In the last season, the team confirmed all of its credentials as an aggressive and attacking team, winning the best climber’s jersey in no less than eight stage races.

“It obviously feels bad to see a cycle we had opened with enthusiasm and high hopes come to an end,” General Manager Claudio Corti said, “particularly after seasons in which the team had managed to earn big consideration from all the people in cycling. I will always regret to see this project close before bringing the Colombian flag back to the Tour de France, particularly as I think this goal was not very far away.“

“Team Colombia-Coldeportes was created to be more than just a cycling project,” Corti continued. “The significance of this team’s path should not be evaluated only on cycling results, but on the impact it had on the image of Colombia in sports and beyond, and the promotion of its identity, culture and tourism.

“Colombian sport proved capable to compete at the highest level in the World of cycling, and that was the most important goal achieved by the Colombia-Coldeportes project. The way our team was welcomed by the Colombian sports fans all around the World is the biggest statement of what the team managed to do in four years.”

“Unfortunately, the final decision by Coldeportes was communicated to us only in the very last few days, meaning we could not proceed any further with the Union Cycliste Internationale, nor we could give a better opportunity to the whole team – riders, sports directors, staff and sponsors – that worked with us in the last year. My special thanks toWilier, for backing us in these years with their top-level bikes. I sincerely wish to say a big “Thank You” to all those who took part and collaborated in this project , as well as to the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos and the Director of Coldeportes Andres Botero, who firmly believed in this project: without them, the return of a Colombian team to top-notch cycling would have never been possible,” Corti concluded.