Ken Pharma abandons cycling and leaves the Spanish team in a precarious situation

The Spanish cycling scene could lose one of its most solid projects in recent years. The team Equipo Kern Pharma has confirmed that its main sponsor, the Spanish pharmaceutical company Kern Pharma, will leave cycling at the end of the 2026 season, ending a relationship that has lasted for seven years and has been key to the development of the team led by Juanjo Oroz.

Kern Pharma will stop sponsoring the Navarre team in 2026, opening an uncertain future for the Spanish structure

The decision marks the end of a phase that began in 2020 when the team made the leap to professional cycling supported by the training structure of the Galibier Sports Association. Since then, the project has been growing progressively, establishing itself as one of the most visible Spanish teams within the ProTeam category thanks to its commitment to young talent and a long-term sports model.

As explained by the president and CEO of Kern Pharma, Raúl Díaz-Varela, the sponsorship of the team has been for the company something more than a sports investment, as it represented a way to convey values such as effort, perseverance, and the development of young talents. However, the company believes it is time to redirect its resources towards other business areas, which leads to its exit from professional cycling.

During these years, the Navarre team has managed to carve out a niche in the international calendar and also in the imagination of Spanish cycling. Its greatest impact came in the 2024 Vuelta a España, where, despite competing as an invited team, it achieved three stage victories, two with Pablo Castrillo and one with Urko Berrade, becoming the most successful invited team in the race since 2012.

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In addition to its results, the project has served as a development platform for several riders who have subsequently made the leap to the WorldTour. Among them are notable names such as Roger Adrià, Pablo Castrillo, Raúl García Pierna, Igor Arrieta, and Pau Miquel, reflecting the training vocation with which the structure was born.

Looking ahead to 2026, the team maintains a prominent presence in the international calendar and has received invitations to prestigious races such as Liège-Bastogne-Liège and a new participation in the Vuelta a España. In sporting terms, the team has already achieved a victory this season thanks to Iván Cobo in the Region of Dodecanese GP held in Greece.

Despite this, the announcement of the withdrawal of sponsorship opens a decisive period for the future of the project. The team's management has expressed gratitude for the support received over the years and has emphasized that the priority now is to find new partners to ensure the continuity of the structure starting in 2027.

Díaz-Varela himself pointed out that the team arrives at this moment with a solid sports base, which could facilitate the arrival of new companies interested in linking themselves to professional cycling. However, until a new main sponsor is confirmed, the future of the team remains in a state of uncertainty that could affect one of the key structures of Spanish cycling in the last decade.