Alonso abandons hopes for 2014 cycling team

Formula One superstar Fernando Alonso confirmed on Monday that he was abandoning hopes of fielding a professional cycling team in 2014 after his deal with Euskaltel-Euskadi management fell apart over the weekend.

“We’ve tried it until the end, but it’s just been impossible to have a cycling team in 2014,” Alonso said in a statement. “My passion for this sport, my will to cooperate and do my bit remains intact, so this is only the beginning of the future. From tomorrow morning we are going to work on building, if needs be from scratch, a team we can be proud of. The best cycling team we can form, respecting this sport and with humility.”

Alonso had hoped to take over ownership of the Basque Euskaltel team after sponsors of the squad announced earlier this year that they would not return in 2014. The parties had a deal in principal in place, but negotiations stalled over staff and equipment retention.

The Spanish Ferrari driver confirmed that he would move forward in creating a team for 2015.

“As you may have observed I’m quite tenacious, and above all, I love and value this sport a lot,” he said. “It possesses and transmits, as I said many times, values that I share; a set of values that I would like to help promote. Cycling and its fans deserve the best and now we have time on our side, time in which we’ll be very attentive to any circumstance that we can learn from and, above all, that can make us better for next year. It wasn’t to be, but it will be! This adventure has only just begun. Let’s look forward to 2015!”