ONCE (cycling team)
Under the name of the sponsor ONCE firmierte 1989-2003 (1999-2000 ONCE German Bank, 2001-03 ONCE - Eroski ) is a Spanish professional team in road cycling. After a change of sponsor the team from 2004 to 2005 Liberty Seguros, Liberty Seguros - Würth in 2006 was called before it changed several times the name in the wake of doping scandal Fuentes and was dissolved.
Organization
Team Manager, Sports Director and its operating company, Active Bay owner of the team was the Spaniard Manolo Saiz. The longtime lead sponsor, the Spanish blind lottery Organización Nacional de Ciegos de España ( ONCE). The successor to Liberty Seguros is a Spanish insurance
Once
Among the most successful drivers of the team included the Swiss Alex Zülle, in 1991, began his professional career at ONCE, and in 1992 undertook Toshiba Frenchman Laurent Jalabert. Zülle was for ONCE second in the Tour de France in 1995, won the 1996 Vuelta a España and the time trial championship. In addition Zülle celebrated several victories at smaller tours, such as Paris- Nice 1993, the Tour of Catalonia in 1992 and 1994 and the Basque Country Tour 1997. Jalaberts greatest successes in ONCE was the victory at Milan-San Remo in 1995, at. Paris-Nice 1995-1997, the Fleche Wallonne in 1997 and the time trial world Cup 1997 Both riders dominated from 1995 to 1998 together, the UCI world Ranking - Jalabert led the list a total of almost four years. After the 1997 season Zülle switched to competitors Festina, Jalabert went from ONCE end of 2000 for Team CSC.
From the late 1990s were, inter alia, the team the tour specialists Igor González de Galdeano, Carlos Sastre and the German Jörg Jaksche. Team captain Joseba Beloki ran from 2000 to 2002 three times on the podium of the Tour de France, no longer obtained after a serious, spectacular crash during the Tour in 2003 but the old level of performance. 1995 and 2002, won the ONCE team standings of the Tour as well as 2000 and 2002, the team time trial.
Change of sponsor, doping and end
With the start of the 2003 season ONCE was replaced as the main sponsor of the insurance company Liberty Seguros and renamed Liberty Seguros team.
The biggest success of the team in 2004 was the victory of Roberto Heras at the Vuelta a España in 2004. 's Victory at the Vuelta a España 2005 Heras disallowed after a positive doping test for EPO. In June 2011, a Spanish court found that the lock and the sanctions imposed against Heras as the denial of the Vuelta victory because of irregularities in the doping process are invalid.
On 23 May 2006 Team manager Saiz was arrested in the investigation in doping scandal Fuentes. Then, the main sponsor Liberty Seguros withdrew on 25 May 2006 so that the team was temporarily named after the co-sponsor Würth. New main sponsor was born on 2 June 2006, a consortium of Kazakh companies, after which the team was named after the Kazakh capital Astana. After five drivers of the banns for the Tour de France were withdrawn in 2006 for their involvement in the doping investigation, the team was allowed a total not start that far below the minimum number of starters of six riders.
On 16 December 2006, the Licensing Committee of the International Cycling Union UCI revoked the UCI ProTeam license the operator company Active Bay, while the Kazakh sponsors consortium, new management, and large parts of the squad for such a license is successfully applied under the same name Astana. The victory of Alexandre Vinokourov in the Vuelta a España in 2006, making it the last major success of the team was founded in 1989.