After more than two months of silence around the project, rumours around the Fernando Alonso Cycling Team started to circulate again as figures closely connected with the renowned Formula One star insist everything proceeds in a right direction.
Just before the 2014 Giro d’Italia kicked off many doubts about a possibility of rounding up Alonso’s team for 2015 season arose, as several sourced from the inside of professional peloton suggested there was no hearing from the Formula One driver or any people associated with the project.
We didn’t have to wait for a response from Alonso, however, as Spaniard insisted that with five high profile riders ready to join his team and pre-contractual agreement signed with Dubai government as major sponsor, only unfavorable UCI rules stood on his way to establish new WorldTour team.
Even though Alonso’s representatives were to negotiate with the UCI on working out some special treatment to make a WorldTour application process easier for the new squad, apparently parties didn’t manage to reach any agreement on that matter. Kiko Garcia, one of the figures closely related to the Spaniard driver, suggests that he is still motivated to develop the project despite being forced to follow unfavorable rules.
“The UCI has rules that must be followed with deadlines as they are. And we are working hard to meet these deadlines and to enter the WorldTour,” Kiko Garcia told Biciciclismo.
“When you read the UCI rules, they are very clear about granting [WorldTour] licenses. I think until October-November it won’t be possible to know anything in this regard, so we cannot do anything else than working on it and waiting.”
As Alonso’s close friend, Garcia didn’t deny his involvement in the project but was reluctant to reveal his real position within the Fernando Alonso Cycling team. He confirmed, however, that with fresh faces and new advanced technologies involved, cycling needs this kind of project as an integral part of the discipline.
“I’m helping them from the first day the best I can and I’ll continue until the end, until the project is established. I have a personal friendship with Luis [Abad] and Fernando, and as a friend I’m obligated to do everything I can to help – I think that’s what I’m doing.”
“Not only at the level of Spanish cycling, but at the level of international cycling the arrival of new faces, ideas and technologies is very important.”
“All of this would be very important for cycling and I think cycling needs a team like that, so hopefully realizing it will become helpful on many grounds to turn this idea into reality,” Garcia concluded.
Jon-Anders BEKKEN 26 years | today |
Jorge CASTELBLANCO 36 years | today |
Heinrich BERGER 39 years | today |
Fabian HOLZMEIER 37 years | today |
Timo ALBIEZ 39 years | today |
© CyclingQuotes.com