In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Saíz and the second or maternal family name is Balbás.
Manuel "Manolo" Saiz Balbás (born 16 October 1959 in Torrelavega, Cantabria) is the former team manager of one of the most successful Spanish professional road bicycle racing teams, first called Team ONCE, then Liberty Seguros-Würth, Astana-Würth, and lastly Astana Team.
Saiz was a hands-on manager and directeur sportif. He consolidated his riders' training and hired staff to manage their coaching and racing.
Despite not having a racing background, he nurtured ONCE to become one of the biggest teams. His riders included Frenchman Laurent Jalabert and Swiss Alex Zülle; both dominated the Vuelta a España, each winning the general and other classifications. In 1995 Jalabert achieved the trifecta by winning the general classification along with the points and King of the Mountains.
Saiz's next riders included Spaniard Abraham Olano, Igor González de Galdeano and Joseba Beloki. ONCE dominated team time trials in the Tour de France.
At the end of the 2003 ONCE discontinued sponsorship, saying penetration was 100% in Spain, meaning every Spaniard knew what ONCE was. Saiz brought Liberty Seguros (the Spanish branch of the US company Liberty Mutual) and Würth, a German assembly technology company to be co-sponsor.
Manuel "Manolo" Saiz Balbás (born 16 October 1959 in Torrelavega, Cantabria) is the former team manager of one of the most successful Spanish professional...
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Spanish and Basque footballer José Ángel Saiz Meneses (born 1956), Spanish archbishop of the Catholic Church ManoloSaiz (born 1959), the team manager of Spanish...
affair, Virenque was banned together with his former teammate Hervé. ManoloSaiz, manager of ONCE–Deutsche Bank, Dr Nicolas Terrados team doctor of Team...
professional road cycling was with the defunct Spanish Team ONCE directed by ManoloSaiz using Giant TCR frames in custom sizes for each individual rider. Laurent...
ProTour licence of the former Liberty Seguros–Würth team, held by ManoloSaiz. However, Saiz was reluctant to sell, so Astana applied for a licence in their...
to social integration of its members. Their former directeur sportif, ManoloSaiz, went on to form the Liberty Seguros–Würth team. ENAT – European Network...
facilitating Hamilton's doping. Fuentes was arrested with team director ManoloSaiz in May 2006 as part of the Operación Puerto investigation. On June 26...
turned out to be ManoloSaiz's Liberty Seguros–Würth team. Liberty Seguros withdrew sponsorship on 25 May 2006 after the arrest of ManoloSaiz relating to...
together with four others: the manager of the Liberty Seguros team ManoloSaiz, José Luis Merino a haematologist at an analytical laboratory in Madrid...
Prudencio Induráin (Vitalicio Seguros) as well as ONCE's team manager ManoloSaiz. Leblanc negotiated with the team managers and they voted 14–6 in agreement...
his Bachillerato and signed with Iberdrola–Loinaz, a youth team run by ManoloSaiz, manager of the professional ONCE–Deutsche Bank team. In 2001, he won...
including Richard Virenque, Laurent Roux and Philippe Gaumont, manager ManoloSaiz and the entire TVM–Farm Frites team. Virenque's team Polti then appealed...
team for the remainder of the 2004 season. Beloki switched back to ManoloSaiz's team (now called Liberty Seguros–Würth) for 2005. Beloki completed the...
himself as a daring sprinter. He moved on to the Spanish ONCE team under ManoloSaiz, where he reinvented himself as an all-rounder capable of winning one-day...
Kazakh-backed Astana Team received the license previously owned by ManoloSaiz and his Liberty Seguros–Würth. Unibet.com and Discovery Channel discontinued...
time; he did not start the seventeenth stage the day after team manager ManoloSaiz was arrested in connection with the investigation. The team folded at...
had been asked to stay away from the 1999 Tour de France along with ManoloSaiz, manager of a Spanish team who in withdrawing his riders from the 1998...
he became professional with the ProTour team Liberty Seguros–Würth of ManoloSaiz. That year he won a stage in the 2005 Tour de l'Avenir. In 2007 De Kort...
cyclist Richard Virenque, Laurent Roux and Philippe Gaumont, manager ManoloSaiz and the entire TVM–Farm Frites team. Virenque's team Polti then appealed...
the 2006 Vuelta a España, but as the UCI license previously held by ManoloSaiz transferred to new ownership, headquartered in a new nation, it is considered...
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