Some riders of the ceasing Geox-TMC team still haven't found a new team. One of them is David de la Fuente, who at this moment is still searching, but still has no firm offers for the coming season.

“I don’t have anything, I’m waiting for replies. The prospects are bad,” de la Fuente told Marca.

The Italian footwear manufacturer Geox announced its decision to withdraw from cycling sponsorship in late October, but the team management refused to give up and continued their search for a new possible sponsor.

“We were convinced that [Mauro] Gianetti and [Joxean] Matxin would have found something,” de la Fuente said. “We were too optimistic, but I don’t regret anything.”

Despite not knowing where he will race next year, David de la Fuente has trained throughout the winter. But it hasn't been very easy to train without any structure.

“From the moment the season finished, I haven’t gone three days without touching the bike,” he said. “Now I’m going out every day, but not for more than three hours because seeing as I don’t have a team and I don’t have objectives. But I want to be ready in case somebody has a place for me, either now or later on.”

I am surprised that de la Fuente is the rider who is now without a team and the Spanish rider himself finds it quite odd, as well. David de la Fuente was part of Alberto Contador’s Astana team at the 2010 Tour de France and then very important when Juan José Cobo won the 2011 Vuelta a España.

“I’m living a sad situation, I’m not so bad as to have no team,” de la Fuente said. “I’d never have imagined that it could have happened to me. I’m starting to prepare myself mentally for the possibility of retirement, but not all doors are closed yet."