AQUA DR I F T I N TO THE BLUE

When millionaire businessman Rick Delaney burst onto the cycling scene with Aqua Blue Sport less than two years ago, he had grand plans of how he could revolutionise cycling’s business model. Rather than a reliance on ickle sponsors, his team would eventually be funded by an online cycling shop. It was a bold and brave idea and, possibly, a naïve one, lawed only by the fact no other team had yet found the answer to how to break the chains, and complete reliance, on the unstable ground of sponsors.

The team’s irst season exceeded all expectations, but its stage win at last year’s Vuelta turned out to be the peak, not the start of something great. Race invites dried up and Delaney became increasingly openly critical of organisers who chose to overlook them this season. The gamble to use single chainring bikes cost them results, some riders said. And then a hastily-attempted merger with Vérandas Willems-Crelan to bring star rider Wout Van Aert on-board spectacularly back ired, as Aqua Blue announced a deal before it had been signed.

When Aqua Blue Sport began, Delaney said the team was secure for four years. It didn’t last two. Some riders found out the news via the media. They didn’t even have a chance to chase results that might lead to a 2019 contract, because the team pulled out of the Tour of Britain. Fifteen riders, plus sta f are now out of work. Some will get signed elsewhere, others might not. Delaney has learned that reinventing cycling’s wheel isn’t as easy as it looks.