De la Fuente unable find a new home for 2012
Spanish professional cyclist, David de la Fuente, is still struggling to find a new team for the coming season. He is amongst the many Geox riders who were left without a team after the Spanish squad failed to attract sponsors for 2012.
The-30-year old started riding professionally with Team Vini Caldirola in 2003 and rode for Saunier Duval-Prodir Team (currently known as Geox TMC) during 2004-09. He accepted an offer from Team Astana and signed a one-year contract for 2010.
His most recent appearance at the international scene was with Team Geox-TMC, he played a major role in the Spanish squad.
The Spaniard is a gifted climber and his skills helped him secure a number of victories throughout his career.
He won the Tour de France Combativity award in 2006, mountains classification at Saunier Duval-Prodir 2007 and an overall win at the Gp Miguel Indurain 2009.
The cyclist has not given up as he continues to train at Cantabria, despite the fact that he has no offers on the table.
He told Marca, “I don’t have anything, I’m waiting for replies. The prospects are bad. From the moment the season finished, I haven’t gone three days without touching the bike”.
Fuente further added, “Now I’m going out every day, but not for more than three hours because seeing as I don’t have a team and I don’t have objectives. But I want to be ready in case somebody has a place for me, either now or later on”.
It was revealed earlier this month that Team UnitedHealthcare is interested to join hands with Geox-TMC.
Negotiations between the teams are underway, Mike Tamayo of Team UnitedHealthcare confirmed that a dialogue between the two parties is in process.
Geox-TMC is not the only team struggling to continue its operations at the top level of the sport. The American squad, HTC-Highroad, also announced its closure by the end of 2011, along with the merger of Leopard Trek and RadioShack.
All the unfortunate events shattered the dreams of many cyclists and staff members. The dishearten Fuente is in a sad situation and is preparing himself for an early retirement because of the incidents.
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