Sponsor Euskaltel-Euskadi pulls the plug from the Spanish cycling team at the end of 2013 the Basque newspaper El Correo reported on Tuesday.

It was already known that the formation had to look for new sponsors to continue racing at World Tour-level but the staff heard Monday by telephone that no more money is available neither for WorldTour level nor for a lower level.

Four days before the start of the Vuelta, the riders may start looking for a new employer. The cycling team had a license for three seasons.

There are rumors that the Russian businessman Oleg Tinkov, current co-sponsor of the Danish Saxo-Tinkoff team, may take over the license.

Since 1994 the Basque Euskaltel company has acted as sponsor of the team which consisted exclusively of riders from their own region until the beginning of the current season.