Amets Txurruka disappointed after losing Team Euskaltel-Euskadi contract
Team Euskaltel-Euskadi has decided to end its six-year association with the Spanish rider, Amets Txurruka.
The cyclist marked his professional debut with Team Barloworld in 2006 and joined the Spanish side after spending a period one year with the debut team.
He is known for his excellent climbing skills and has served the team with several top performances in the past seasons.
The 29-year-old has shown a lot of disappointment for not being picked up by the team in the season ahead and has taken his anger out in front of the media.
He noted that Team Euskaltel-Euskadi is mainly known for having local riders on its squad but this is about to change with the arrival of foreign riders in the coming season.
"I will now see the team as just any other. It won't be special anymore," he noted.
"I joined because I felt that this team was different, that it was a team for the Basque Country, a bit like Athletic [Bilbao]".
"It's always been like that, but it seems to me that this is ending".
"It is going to be difficult to accept the fact that a lot of good riders from the Basque Country who have been part of this project will be sidelined from it while the team is filled up with foreigners".
The Basque briefed that he was given signs throughout the year about his addition in the new season and was not given any hint about his exclusion unless he received the call from González de Galdeano last week.
Team Euskaltel-Euskadi currently holds the 13th overall position after the UCI World Tour team’s rankings and has bagged 475 UCI points in the current season.
Samuel Sanchez (252 UCI points), Mile Nieve (98 UCI points), Jon Izagirre (46 UCI points), Igor Anton (44 UCI points) and Gorka Verdugo (35 UCI points) made the major contributions.
Txurruka briefed that Galdeano also told him that the main reason behind the team’s decision to have him off their roster is because of the fact that he did not score any World Tour points in the season.
He noted that he agrees with Galdeano’s points but injuries played an important role in his failure in the current season.
However, the cyclist has no option but to accept his fate and is now optimistic to find a new home to continue his professional endeavours for the 2013 season.
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