Miguel Indurain abandoned Pinarello after 31 years and shares the reason

Miguel Induráin's history with the Italian bicycle brand Pinarello is one of the most beautiful in world sport. The Banesto team (now Movistar Team) began using them in 1992, in the second Tour de France of the Navarrese, and continued to use them throughout his career.

Thus, with the famous 'Espada' he set the hour record and with the Pinarello he won the Tour four times and the Giro d'Italia two times. Now, 32 years after that idyll began, the Navarrese rider has broken with the Italian brand.

The reason, very simple: a change of owners. Miguel was very comfortable with the old Pinarello, a successful brand but from the familiar. The new owners belong to a large corporation with which Induráin is not at all comfortable.

"I met the new managers recently, in Italy, because with the pandemic I had not been able to travel before and had no relationship with them. I didn't like the management very much and, as I have a friendship with the Pinarello family, but no relationship with the brand, I decided to leave," he told Relevo's colleagues.

Thus, Miguel is aware that everything has changed today in the world of cycling and that he, as is logical, makes decisions based on what he considers most correct with respect to his ideals:

"All this has changed a lot in cycling. Most of the companies are now industrial groups, Colnago, Sidi, now Pinarello; almost all of them belong to investment groups that have seen that the market is moving and have bet on this. You can like it more or less, but as I'm