Fernando Alonso remains determined to have his own cycling team

The Spanish squad, which with Alonso had reached an agreement at the end of last month, said on Monday that talks had come to an end despite its best efforts to secure a deal that would secure its future following the loss of its main sponsor.

Alonso said it had proved impossible to put a deal together, but insisted that has not changed his plans for the future.

"We've tried it until the end, but it's just been impossible to have a cycling team in 2014," said Alonso in an statement posted on Twitter.

"My passion for this sport, my will to cooperate and do my bit remains intact, so this is only the beginning of the future.

"From tomorrow morning we are going to work on building, if needs be from scratch, a team we can be proud of.

"The best cycling team we can form, respecting this sport and with humility.

"Cycling and its fans deserve the best and now we have time on our side, time in which we'll be very attentive to any circumstance that we can learn from and, above all, that can make us better for next year.

"It wasn't to be, but it will be! This adventure has only just begun. Let's look forward to 2015!"