After a contentious meeting between UCI president Pat McQuaid, Euskaltel cycling team head Manuel Madariaga, and IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, the Euskaltel team was told to make significant changes if they wished to continue operating at their current budget numbers for 2012.
Due to the significant change in the European climate and severe pressure on the Basque public institutions that sponsor the team, Madariaga had no other option but to request the meeting with Lagarde and McQuaid to work out arrangements that would give Euskaltel a much needed cash injection from the IMF to operate the team.
Euskaltel rider demonstrates the need for IMF intervention
However, Madariaga was not pleased with the “austerity measures,” which he referred to as “austerity f***ing cuts to our heritage” that were attached to the funds that could alleviate the budgetary challenges of the team.
“Look, this is an attempt by the IMF under the guise of the UCI to open up the Euskaltel cycling team to the world stage. Up until now, we have functioned well as an almost exclusively Basque team with Basque backers in one of the strongest cycling regions in the world. The downturn in the European economy and soon to be the world economy is the Trojan horse being used by McQuaid and his ilk to globalize our cycling team,” fumed Madariaga.
McQuaid was rather optimistic about the results of the meeting, concluding that he felt that Madariaga’s staunch Basque sentiments were a detriment to the sport and the austerity measures would be a benefit to not only the Euskaltel team but all of cycling.
Lagarde outlined the details of the requirements of Euskaltel to receive additional funding as follows:
- Increase the foreign content of the cycling component of the team by 32.2% including a minimum of one member from the countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
- Bring in the UCI to oversee team-building functions to ensure proper amalgamation of the foreign content of the rider contingent
- Reduce the coaching staff by 30% to streamline operations
- Eliminate the soigneur expense accounts
- Require IMF approval of team vehicles for non-race-related functions
- Convert the team bus from diesel power to biofuels imported from the United States
- Implement crash training protocols to reduce excessive amount of race crashes by 60% and thereby reducing equipments costs.
- Purchase mass-produced Taiwanese carbon frames.
- Increase the cycling team accessibility for marketing/public relations opportunities in the lucrative Asian market.
An Euskaltel rider demonstrates the need for crash-curbing protocols
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