Lotto are stepping down from sponsoring Dutch team Lotto-Jumbo. Their contract is up at the end of the year and that’s enough for them. The good news is co-sponsor Jumbo has said it will step up and become the main sponsor and even increase the budget to somewhere north of €15 million.
On the same day Michael Valgren won the Omloop, Astana team staff got an email saying their employer was waiting for sponsorship cash and the team later confirmed it is in financial difficulty. This followed news on Friday night on Vesti.kz where team manager Alexandr Vinokourov warned his team had not received its funding for 2018 and was paying travel costs out of “savings”.
The team’s not bankrupt but management must be nervous: why make this public because even if the promised cash shows up it will only deter riders from renewing or joining the squad?
You might know what the likes of Trek, Sky or Sunweb do but do you know Aqua Blue from Aqua Protect, CCC from Crelan, Verandas Willems from Veranclassic? I didn’t and set out to find out what all the sponsors of cycling’s second tier teams are about. While the World Tour is fixed with 18 teams, the Pro Continental ranks have grown by five teams to reach a total of 27 squads this year. It’s an interesting glimpse into the sport with health insurance, hedge funds and law firms sponsoring US teams; rural suppliers of verandas and animal feed in France and Belgium. All share the same struggle to get noticed with Pro Conti teams winning just four World Tour races last year.
With the new season about to start do you know your Soudal from your Sky, your Michelton from your Movistar? Here’s an A-Z primer on the World Tour team sponsors for 2018 and what they do.
Team Sky’s accounts for the year ending 2016 are out and they’re bigger than ever, the team budget increased by 27% for the year and Sky’s title sponsorship payment by 50%. Here’s a look at their budget, spending, wage bill and more.
One minute you’re on top of the world, the next you’re in the gutter. Sport regularly serves up cruel metaphors for life. Cannondale-Drapac wore the king of the mountains jersey for a few days in the Tour de France, won a stage and put Rigoberto Urán on the podium. They announced a new blue chip sponsor in Oath, a US media company and were renewing the contracts of their star riders with a new sponsor set to be unveiled, apparently even the new kit and bus designs had been worked. Only it seems the funding for 2018 was never in place, the new sponsor had not signed a binding deal and now the team could vanish. Here’s a look at the chronology of events as well as the options ahead.
I awoke and padded my way to the bathroom across the Quick Step flooring. A flick of the Hansgrohe thermostatic valve and the shower hissed into life. As I waited for the hot water to arrive I glanced at the tiles fixed in place by the Soudal adhesive and grouting.
Do you know your Soudal from your Sky, your Sunweb from your Sky? Here’s an A-Z primer on the World Tour team sponsors for 2017 and what they do. It turns out that if you want to refresh your bathroom then the pro peloton has just the sponsors you need.
Imagine you’re the head of marketing for a company that sells insurance, steel or adhesives. It might not be the job you always wanted and it’s hard to get excited about these products. What if there was a way to get commentators roaring the name of your brand on live TV, to have people painting your logo all over public spaces while brandishing placards and bedsheets celebrating the company name. It’s a marketing dream. It’s pro cycling.
There are many brands sponsoring teams and all year long people root for Lampre, Cofidis or Soudal but do you know what they do?
Europcar manager Jean-René Bernaudeau has found a replacement sponsor in Direct Energie, a supplier of electricity and natural gas that operates in France and Belgium. It keeps the team on the road and also does the whole sport some good because here’s a sponsor from outside the sport that wants to use the team as a means to win new customers.