‘There is nothing’: riders still in limbo as year end approaches
Joxean Fernández Matxin has said that he still has no leads in his search for a solution to rescue the former Geox TMC team. “There’s nothing,” the squad’s sporting manager told VeloNation. “There are conversations with various teams, but there is nothing [his emphasis – ed.].”
Yesterday El Periodico journalist Sergi López-Egea suggested that there could be developments, saying that talks between Vuelta a España winner Juan José Cobo and Team Movistar had been put on hold as Matxin had spoken to an American team about a possible merger.
Aside from the chance to acquire a Vuelta winner, it would seem probable that a wildcard to that race would also follow. Earlier this week Vuelta a España director Javier Guillén suggested as much to AS. “Now he is without a team because of difficult circumstances,” he said. “Wherever he rides, we want to have him [in the race].”
That would make a deal very attractive to teams who otherwise wouldn’t be sure of their participation.
However Matxin downplays the notion that a solution is imminent, making clear that while there have been talks, there is nothing to report.
He and the riders were left high and dry when Geox abruptly walked away in October. Since then there have been major efforts made to secure a new backer, including talks with the Venezuelan government, but nothing came to fruition.
The team has missed the Pro Continental status awarded to other teams. Matxin told VeloNation earlier this week that he would continue fighting until the end of the month, and that he believed the UCI might still give the team a licence of that level if an eleventh-hour backer was found.