Team Principal Dave Brailsford needs to find a new title sponsor but Pinarello is sticking around. GETTY IMAGES
Bike brand Pinarello will support Team Sky beyond '19, as it is convinced Team Principal Dave Brailsford can find a new title sponsor to replace Sky and "keep the team alive," according to Stephen Farrand of CYCLING NEWS. Pinarello has been Team Sky's bike sponsor since the British WorldTour team was created for the '10 season, "sharing in the team's success" at the Tour de France and other races over the years. Pinarello invests close to €4M ($4.6M) per season via its sponsorship and supplies hundreds of frames, "securing it a place on the Team Sky jersey and the prestige of winning Grand Tours and other major races." The Italian bike brand extended its sponsorship in '16, with the deal set to run through '20, but on Wednesday Sky and 21st Century Fox announced they would end their sponsorship and ownership of the team. Pinarello CEO Fausto Pinarello said, "I'm confident that the team will continue and continue to be successful. I've also had calls from people who are interested too and that's a sign of just how good a team Team Sky is, people want to be part of it" (CYCLING NEWS, 12/13). The London INDEPENDENT reported Sky's move to end its involvement in professional cycling after the '19 season has given Team Sky "enough time to line up a new sponsor," according to retired two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador. He believes the early notice is a "silver lining for cycling's most dominant team." Contador said, "The good news is that they'll know about the likelihood of a new sponsor with some advance warning. It's not like they've been told in August that the squad was going to end at the end of the year." Contador added that he was "not surprised" by Sky's decision to end its long running and "spectacularly successful" relationship with the British outfit, and believes its riders would "have no trouble finding new teams if another backer did not emerge" (INDEPENDENT, 12/13).
NO REGRETS: In London, Sean Ingle reported Geraint Thomas said that he "has no regrets" in signing a new deal with Team Sky in September, despite being in "shock" when he learned Sky pulled the plug on its sponsorship deal. This year's Tour de France winner, who considered becoming team leader of Polish team CCC before agreeing to an improved £3.5M ($4.4M)-a-year deal with Team Sky, is also "confident" Brailsford will find a sponsor to keep the team together in '20. Thomas said, "I don't regret [not] joining another team. I have got every confidence in the team in getting something else to keep it together. When you look at other teams, title sponsors change but the core stays the same, so there is no reason why that can't happen" (GUARDIAN, 12/13).
