Banesto team maintain San Firmin tradition

By Francois Thomazeau

Luxembourg - Just as they have done every July for the past 15 years, Banesto riders wore red scarves in the Tour de France on Sunday to celebrate San Firmin - the patron saint of Pamplona and home of the Spanish cycling team.

There have been better days for the Banesto team - who have entered the internet age as Ibanesto.com - thanks to the success of leading riders such as five-times winner Miguel Indurain and 1998 champion Pedro Delgado.

But the red scarf is still there and, if the leader's yellow jersey looks a distant dream for their nine riders at the Luxembourg start, the team can at least claim some of the best prospects in this year's Tour.

The San Firmin tradition has been firmly established for more than 20 years, ever since team-founder Jose-Miguel Echavarri and manager Francis Lafargue met during the Pamplona's July festivities.

"Jose-Miguel was running a small bar at the time and we discussed launching a team, though we did not believe that one day we would be on the Tour," Lafargue said.

The team began the red scarf tradition in a bid to attract a media attention.

"We used to have five minutes on television because of the red scarf and we also invited the media to enjoy a little chorizo and sangria," Lafargue added.

Later on, Banesto's team results were good enough to catch the eye but Delgado, Indurain and former world champion Abraham Olano all continued to maintain the San Firmin tradition by wearing the red scarf.

Lafargue believes his team may not have a rider strong enough to win this year's Tour but, with Russian Denis Menchov and Spaniards Unai Osa and Francisco Mancebo, they can at least look forward to a bright future.

Both Menchov and Osa won the Tour de l'Avenir - the junior Tour de France - while Mancebo won the under-25 classification in the Tour proper two years ago.

Gradually all three riders have begun to fulfil their early promise.

Menchov won the most gruelling stage of the Dauphine Libere at the top of Mount Ventoux last month and will lead the team on this year's Tour.

"He has what it takes to become a big Tour rider in two or three years, but he's here to learn," Lafargue said.

Osa built on his 2000 Tour de l'Avenir victory by finishing third in last year's Giro d'Italia.

"He is very good when the road goes up but he's useless on the flat. You cannot always have it both ways," said Lafargue.

This year the team might be strong enough to pose problems for defending champion Lance Armstrong in the mountains, but it is unlikely that Banesto will challenge his overall domination.

Instead, their main goal this season is the Spanish Vuelta in September in which their leader will be gifted climber Juan-Miguel Mercado.

"He is a great climber in the Delgado mould. We would have liked to bring him on the Tour, but he needed a rest," Lafargue said.

"You cannot do the Tour and the Vuelta hoping to do well in both anymore."