Ten riders are facing unemployment after the decision was taken by the Liberty Seguros not to return to cycling. It had been expected to back a team in 2011, but the Alberto Contador situation and other factors have led to the abandonment of those plans.
“I’m speechless,” said Manuel Correia, the planned directeur sportif, to Jornal Ciclismo. “It’s a tragic situation because many people are involved and this is more important than having or not having a professional team. Right now I’m worried about the riders who would have been part of the project, because any of them could easily have found a team. They chose us, and now it will not be easy to find an alternative.”
According to the magazine, the riders now left on the sidelines are António Amorim (former Barbot-Siper), Edgar Pinto (ex-LA-Paredes Rota dos Furniture), Fábio Silvestre (ex-Liberty Seguros sub-23), Filipe Cardoso (ex-LA-Walls Route Mobile), José Mendes (ex-LA-Paredes Rota dos Moves), Marcus Cole (ex-Liberty Seguros U23), Ricardo Vilela (ex-Madeinox Boavista), Rui Sousa (ex-Siper Barbot) Sergio Sousa (ex-Madeinox Boavista) and Vitor Rodrigues (ex-Caja Rural).
Correia said that he would try to find another backer, but said that it would be difficult and he didn’t want to give those riders false hopes.
Liberty Seguros has a history of backing the sport. It was best known for sponsoring Manolo Saiz’s former ONCE team between 2004 and mid-2006, pulling out due to Operación Puerto scandal.
It remained in cycling by backing a Portuguese team, but got burnt again when Nuno Ribeiro, Isidro Nozal and Hector Guerra tested positive for EPO in August 2009. Ribeiro had earlier won the Tour of Portugal, thus amplifying the negative headlines.
This prompted the company to withdraw. Liberty Seguros is guided by honesty, accuracy and ethical behavior - we can never allow such a situation,” said CEO José Antonion de Sousa last year, stating that he regretted having to make the decision.
One year on, the company assessed the situation and decided that it wasn’t prepared to sponsor a team once again. It said that it had ‘now decided to reaffirm categorically the total removal of the brand in relation to a professional cycling team.’ It indicated that its decision was partly influenced by the Contador situation.
However it will continue backing national teams, training squads and recreational events.