Team Columbia has openly announced that there have been no recent developments to sign Spaniard Samuel Sanchez and that they are unsure if a deal as significant as signing the 2008 Olympic Champion could materialise. 

The squad announced a few days ago that they were looking for new signing after a previous contract with 2013 neo-pro Alexis Camacho fell through. The team stated that the 23 year old would return to Columbia to focus on his development after his first year in the pro ranks did not go to plan.

“Team Colombia’s technical staff will evaluate the signing of another valuable piece to restock the roster in the next few days,” it said in a team statement. 

However it is clear that the next signing will not be Sanchez. Contacted by VeloNation, the team’s press officer David Evangelista said that things had not evolved in that area. “Those we are considering for the vacant place are Colombian,” he said. “There were a couple of young riders that we have had negotiations with in the past and they are amongst those being considered. We currently have sixteen riders and so that would be a seventeenth. It should be decided soon.”

As for Sanchez, he is still without a team for 2014 despite resolving a dispute about his contract with his old team, the now defunct Euskaltel-Euskadi. Evangelista has confirmed that Chris Horner, who, like Sanchez, is also out of contract, will not sign for the team either. Once the replacement for Camacho has been found, Evangelista has said that the team will decide if they want to fill another spot on their roster:

“There is room for riders – we have sixteen, a final total of seventeen or eighteen is possible. However it remains to be seen if the team decides that choosing another rider [to fill the potential eighteenth slot – ed.] is worth it.”

The door has been almost shut for Sanchez to Colombia, but while it remains slightly ajar, he has a chance, and that’s all he needs.