Broadcaster ending sponsorship
LONDON: The future of Team Sky has been cast into doubt after its owner and sponsor, broadcaster Sky, confirmed it will end involvement in professional cycling after the 2019 season, the Britishbased outfit said yesterday
The decision means the hugely successful team, which has won eight Grand Tours since 2012, will need to begin the search for another source of funding from the beginning of 2020 and continue to compete under a new name.
‘‘While Sky will be moving on at the end of next year, the team is openminded about the future and the potential of working with a new partner, should the right opportunity present itself,’’ team principal
Dave Brailsford said.
‘‘We aren’t finished yet by any means. ’’
Team Sky was founded in 2010 with an ambitious goal of securing a first Tour de France victory by a British cyclist within five years, a feat it achieved two years later when Bradley Wiggins triumphed in Paris.
Chris Froome claimed the first of four Tour de France wins a year later and became the first cyclist in more than 30 years to hold all three Grand Tour titles at the same time when he added the 2017 Vuelta a Espana and 2018 Giro d’Italia to his list of honours.
Earlier this year, Froome’s teammate Geraint Thomas became the third Briton to win the Tour de France for Sky, which has amassed 322 overall victories since its formation.
Froome took to Twitter to thank ‘‘brilliant partners’’ Sky and said the team would do everything possible to survive once its main sponsor pulled out.
‘‘I can’t predict the future but this is a really special team,’’ he said. — Reuters