Mitchelton Scott owner Jerry Ryan says he has blocked a proposed takeover of the team by Manuela Fundacion.

The Spanish nonprofit was announced as Mitchelton Scott's new title sponsor in June, but just a week later Ryan announced the termination of the deal. Team manager Shayne Bannan and financial director Alvaro Crespi then left Mitchelton Scott at the end of June and were replaced by Brent Copeland and Darrack McQuaid.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald (opens in new tab), Ryan said he was prepared to give up the naming rights to Francisco Huertas' Manuela Fundacion, but not the team ownership and World Tour license.

"Let me put it this way: ...... it wasn't," Ryan said. 'I didn't fully understand the deal and when I started looking at the contract ...... it wasn't the kind of contract I thought it was going to be. I decided that I could have sponsorship, but not ownership."

Ryan has owned Mitchelton Scott since it was founded as GreenEdge in 2012. The staff and players of the men's and women's WorldTour teams accepted significant pay cuts in April in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the organization, which has long relied on Ryan's financial support, was actively seeking a major commercial sponsor.

The Australian said he had never spoken to Francisco Huertas or his negotiator, 2000 Giro d'Italia winner Stefano Garzelli.

"Banan did. Banan was. I only exchanged a couple of e-mails with the gentleman, no correspondence," Ryan said. 'The problem was that everything was done on Zoom. The problem is that everything was done on Zoom. He had a team of advisors, and I think a lot was misunderstood in the translation of what they were looking for and what we were actually looking for. I was a late participant in that conversation. The contract was essentially agreed upon, but not approved by me. I went into it on the home straight and scratched my horse."

Bannan has been the general manager of GreenEdge from the beginning and left his longtime employer, Cycling Australia, to establish the team before the 2012 season. Ryan told the Sydney Morning Herald that Bannan chose to leave the team at the end of June.

"He decided to leave because the team was falling apart," Ryan said. Shayne was very candid: "I brought the team to this stage."

Ryan's comments to the Sydney Morning Herald about the collapse of the Manuela Fundacion are identical to what he told the Detour Podcast (open in new tab) earlier this month.

Ryan is still the owner of the Mitchelton Scott team in 2021, and he told the Sydney Morning Herald that the team has "Australian DNA" and added: "Next year there will probably be two or three more Australians on the team I think there will be two or three more Australians on the team next year. Next year we will probably have a couple more Australians on the team," he added: "Next year we will probably have a couple more Australians on the team.