Team Euskaltel-Euskadi on the verge of losing Samuel Sanchez for the 2013 season
Team Euskaltel-Euskadi is having an uncertain future because of the pending sponsorship deals.
The team has a couple of pending offers on the table but the management is unable to finalise anything as of now.
On the other hand, the delay in the sponsorship process might cost the team their star rider.
It is believed that, Samuel Sanchez has received a lucrative offer from a World Tour side for the 2013 season.
The Spaniard started his professional crusade with Team Euskaltel-Euskadi in 2000 and has served the team with his several all round performance throughout the 13 years of his professional career.
He has represented the team in as many as 11 Grand tour events including one Giro d’Italia, five Tour de France and six Vuelta a Espana participations to his credit.
Samuel secured the fifth overall position during the Tour de France 2011 and also wins the mountains classifications of the race.
The defending Olympic Champion is having a superb season and holds the fourth overall position at the UCI World Tour Elite Men ranking with a total number of 252 UCI points in his back pocket.
Joaquim Rodriguez of Team Katusha, Tom Boonen of Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Vincenzo Nibali of Team Liquigas-Cannondale hold the first, the second and the third positions in the respective order.
The 34-year-old confirmed the news of receiving offers for the 2013 season, “Right now I have a couple of firm offers on the table," as reported by Marca.com.
"My desire, as I've said, is to continue with Euskaltel-Euskadi, but things are taking too long and yet we know nothing. And the offers have expiration dates".
"I do not want to give ultimatums or deadlines, but it would be desirable if we all had clear ideas before the Tour, knowing whether we have a team or not," he concluded.
The team’s biggest concern is to seal a sponsorship deal for the 2013 which will determine the future of numerous cyclists associated with the side.
It will be interesting to see, if the Spanish team manages to retain their star rider for the coming seasons.
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