Fernando Alonso kicked the silly season rumour mill into overdrive again when he announced on Twitter, “I have important news coming these days … Stay tuned here on Twitter and on the Web!!!”.

F1 Fans would have been forgiven for thinking that news of a departure from Ferrari amidst rumours that the F1 driver could be headed for the Red Bull Racing Team after his manager was spotted talking to Christian Horner following the Hungarian Grand Prix.

But, instead, Alonso announced that he would be saving cycling’s oldest team in the international peloton, Euskaltel-Euskadi. The 17 year old Spanish cycling team had been set for closure after its main sponsor – telecommunications company Euskaltel – said that it would be pulling out of the sport due to co-sponsors who had failed to provide promised funding.

Alonso has agreed to purchase the Basque Pro Cycling Team (BCPT) company that owns the licence to Euskaltel Euskadi to enable the squad to continue racing in 2014. A deal is set to be signed imminently. Euskaltel said in a statement, “The negotiations will be completed in the next few weeks and will culminate in the purchase of the company [Basque Cycling Pro Team], which owns the team, by Fernando Alonso”.

The statement went on to say, “Euskaltel wants to thank the double Formula 1 champion for reaching an agreement and would like to emphasise the respect, understanding and love that Fernando Alonso has shown for the Euskaltel Euskadi team, its professionals, its historical legacy and his hobby.”

Financial details of the deal have not yet been made available but Spanish website elperiodico.com reported that he had bought the WorldTour licence for Spanish team Euskaltel-Euskadi, and had set aside a €6 million budget for it.