Cycling: Finding sponsor to save team is motivation, says Froome
TEAM Sky could be nearing the end of the road but Chris Froome believes the need to find new backing to save the team can serve as extra motivation in 2019.
The four-time Tour de France winner was speaking after broadcaster Sky – which owns and sponsors Team Sky – announced yesterday it would end its investment in professional cycling next year, plunging the future of the team into doubt.
It is understand that Sky’s decision came as a “shock” to team principal Sir Dave Brailsford, with the team’s riders and staff only told on Tuesday night at the start of a training camp in Mallorca.
Froome said the news “came as a surprise” but insisted another season of success should be enough to convince new backers to come on board.
“The team has been incredibly successful and I’ve got every confidence that if the team carries on and delivers another season which has been on a par with previous years we should be able to find a new sponsor,” he said.
“We’ve got a year to replace (Sky). That’s not really for us as riders to be doing but it will be at the back of our minds and if anything will serve as extra motivation for us.”
Brailsford has set a deadline of the start of next year’s Tour de France in July to provide “clarity” on the future of the team, but must find new backers who are willing to look beyond the controversies that have dogged Team Sky in recent years and focus instead on their success.
Since launching in 2010, Team Sky have been among the most successful in the sport, winning 322 races including eight Grand Tours.
They delivered the first ever British winner of the Tour de France in Sir Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and have won six of the last seven editions.