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The team that once was the home of the disgraced drug cheats Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli will live to race another season. With the addition of the new title sponsor Footon.

“It’s important because we’ve been able to continue the team,” team manager Joxean Fernández Matxin, speaking to the Basque newspaper Deia. “Now it’s important that (the media) spread the message of what we’ve said since day one about what happened with Riccò and Piepoli. (CONI) conducted an investigation and it clearly demonstrated that there was no systematic doping within the team. … We feel like victims that two cyclists wanted to improve their performance put into risk the livelihood of dozens of people who had nothing to do with Riccò.”

The newly organized team will retain its ProTour license allowing them to race at the biggest racing race of the year. Matxin is also optimistic it can return to the Tour this year.

“Maybe we don’t have riders to challenge for the overall, but we can aim to win stages, not just one, but several,” he said. “We’ve spoken to the Tour officials. We’re all on the same page about clean cycling. We’re hoping, like Astana, after one year of exile we can come back. We will make clean cycling, transparent, with a lineup to have a place in all the major races.”