According to a report in the Basque newspaper Deia, the riders and staff of the Euskaltel-Euskadi have been given the green light to look for new teams for 2014 by the management as the future of the Basque squad looks ever more bleak, Cyclingnews.com reports.

Allegedly the riders competing at the Clasica San Sebastian were given the bad news on the team bus prior to the start of the race. Mikel Nieve, Igor Antón, Mikel Landa and Mikel Astarloza all rode aggressively in their home Classic but missed out on victory.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the team had a little more than a month to find a sponsor or it would either risk losing its WorldTour rank or vanish all together after a loss of funding from Basque public institutions left Euskaltel to cover the deficit for 2014 as the general financial crisis in Spain is spilling over into the world of Spanish cycling.

Since there is no trace of a new sponsor coming on board, the team management has elected to provide riders the opportunity to find jobs with other teams. As yet, there is no indication that the team might continue even as a Professional Continental team with a lower budget and lesser race programme.

Traditionally the Basque Country has been regarded as a major pillar of Spanish cycling, and the discontinuation of the team would leave Spain with just one WorldTour team: Movistar.