Team Sky Signs First Partner
Team Sky has agreed a three-year technical partner deal with Italian bike manufacturer Cicli Pinarello – the first major sponsorship tie-up for the fledgling cycling team.
Pinarello, who have been making bikes for more than five decades, will supply the frames, forks, seat posts and headsets to the new professional road team.
The announcement brings the first major technical partner to Team Sky and follows the award of a UCI Pro Tour Licence to the team.
To date, Team Sky has revealed 16 riders for the new team with more to be announced. Six British riders – Geraint Thomas, Steve Cummings, Pete Kennaugh, Chris Froome, Ian Stannard and Russell Downing – line up with ten international riders; Edvald Boasson Hagen, Thomas Lovkvist, Kurt Arvesen, Simon Gerrans, Juan Antonio Flecha, Kjell Carlstrom, John Lee Augustyn, Greg Henderson, Lars Petter Nordhaug and Morris Possoni.
The initial squad of around 25 riders will be supported by a team of coaches, technicians and support staff drawn from across the cycling world, many of whom work throughout the year with British elite and developing riders.
Team Sky will compete from the start of 2010, beginning with the Tour Down Under, and hopes to gain an invitation to next year’s Tour de France.
