Smartlog presents a pioneering project for the comprehensive development of young talent with the creation of an under-23 cycling team
2025/04/10
Smartlog presents a pioneering project for the development of young talent that combines academic training and career prospects with cycling. The project takes the form of the creation of an elite under-23 team.
As part of its corporate social responsibility strategy and through the Nest innovation and talent centre, Smartlog is launching its comprehensive development project for young people with a dual purpose: to offer a real alternative that combines academic development and sporting values, and to contribute to the revitalization of Basque cycling from the grassroots, focusing on young talent and their comprehensive training as people and as professionals.
We are not looking to replace other existing initiatives, but to add to and enrich the training and sports ecosystem of the Basque Country.
The proposal, developed in collaboration with former professional cyclist Jon Odriozola, who has extensive experience in sports management, is based on an innovative vision: to train well-rounded people, with access to high-level facilities and support programs that integrate academics, technology and sports.
Training in cycling is going through a difficult period. We want to provide a real opportunity for young people who are unable to find their place in the current system and build a solid structure that will serve as a springboard to a professional future without sacrificing quality training.
Initially, the project will have fifteen people willing to integrate their professional objectives with their sporting objectives. In collaboration with universities, vocational training centres, and other educational entities, Smartlog and collaborating companies will design learning pathways, provide personalized support, facilitate work placements, and offer real employment opportunities.
A project based on business collaborations
The aim is to develop the project through business collaborations with organizations that share the vision of integral and sustainable development. One of these companies is ARREGUI MOTORS, which is providing a fleet of vehicles for transportation, in line with its commitment to sustainability and the development of the environment.
Other organizations are also joining the project, although their participation will be announced later.
Nest: A space for the development of all-round talent
The Nest center, on which construction has just begun, will become a benchmark space for open innovation where R&D&I, professional training and sport will be combined. The modern 6,000-square-meter building, with a seal of sustainability, will house open innovation areas, training classrooms, spaces for startups, conference rooms and a high-performance sports area. On the third floor there will be a space that will be fully equipped to meet all the training and recovery needs of athletes, including state-of-the-art sports machinery, a physiotherapy room and other essential facilities, allowing athletes to reach their maximum performance without having to leave the center.
Nest will be an epicenter of open innovation and technological development for Logistics 5.0, with technologies such as robotics, advanced warehousing, private 5G networks and artificial intelligence. Technological innovation is going to be a major player, but always at the service of the integral development of people.
The work philosophy at Nest shares values with high-level sport: discipline, effort, improvement, analysis, strategy and perseverance. The center will offer resources to make training and competition compatible with technical training, adapting schedules and methodologies in collaboration with educational centers and professionals in the sector.
Aitor Elorza, Academic and Sports Manager at Smartlog Nest, has detailed the infrastructure that the young cyclists will have at their disposal.
In the design of Nest we have incorporated facilities that will allow for high-level training with state-of-the-art equipment, spaces dedicated to physical preparation, recovery and personalized biomechanical monitoring. Our objective is to provide all the technical and human resources necessary for these young people to develop their maximum sporting potential while complementing their academic training.
Two training programs with sports integration
Attracting talent is one of the main challenges facing the industry today. For this reason, Smartlog will offer two training courses that can be complemented by cycling activities:
- Programs for vocational training and intermediate level technicians in the areas of mobile robotics, computing and logistics, in collaboration with UGLE Eskola (Urola Garaiko Lanbide Eskola).
- A master’s program in Logistics Automation in collaboration with universities with a focus on intralogistics, unique in the current postgraduate offering, which will be developed in collaboration with university centers.
Young people who participate in these training programs will have the opportunity to join the cycling team, thus creating a unique model that combines academic excellence and athletic development.
Project philosophy
The initiative is based on four main pillars:
- Integral development: To encourage the comprehensive training of our cyclists, in this case, through technology, education and sport, promoting values such as effort, discipline and personal improvement.
- Sport and culture: To link cycling with Basque culture through respect, sacrifice, effort and collective success.
- Innovation and development: Integrate advanced technological tools, personalized planning and innovative methodologies, both in the training and sports fields.
- Social outreach: Integrate the project into the culture and social economy of the Basque Country, collaborating with educational centers, institutions and social agents to maximize its positive impact. This project demonstrates that sport can be a tool for nurturing talent, creating opportunities and transforming lives, aligned with the values of social responsibility and sustainability.
The official presentation of the cycling team, which is considering expanding into women’s cycling in the future, will take place at the end of 2025 with the aim of starting its journey in 2026, thus completing a project which, as Zubizarreta has emphasized, “seeks to train the future: that of logistics, that of technology and that of a generation of young people prepared to perform at their best in all areas of life”.
Management team
The team will be led by:
- Xabier Zubizarreta as CEO of the project
- Jon Odriozola as General Manager and head of strategy and development.
- Aitor Elorza as Academic and Sports Manager Smartlog Nest
- Iñaki Fernández as Press Officer
The structure will be completed throughout 2025 with coaches, physical trainers, physiotherapists, mechanics and managers of different technical areas.
Social and economic impact
This project goes beyond the traditional expectations of sport to become a catalyst for social, cultural and economic change. Beyond the cycling team, the objective is to transform lives through the integration of sport, education and job opportunities.
Committed to the generation of wealth, youth employment and the development of local talent, Smartlog incorporates training as an essential part of the training. The impact will not be measured only in sporting results, but also in the social and professional progress of the participants.
Athletes will be selected based on their potential as cyclists and their commitment to this comprehensive development model. Each athlete will receive personalized support, ensuring an effective transition to the working world with the backing of all the business partners.
This project represents another step in our commitment to young talent, to sport as a means of growth, and to promoting initiatives with local and social impact.
