IT’S THE LIMIT FOR SKY... BUT WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE CARDIFF’S TOUR DE FRANCE CHAMP GERAINT?
Thomas and Rowe futures in doubt after broadcaster pulls out of sponsorship
GERAINT Thomas yesterday woke up to the shock news of Sky announcing they are to halt backing of their allconquering cycling team at the end of next year.
The 32-year-old, who last July became the first Welshman to win the men’s Tour de France, recently signed a new contract with Sky taking him to the end of 2021.
He had turned down big money offers from rivals Trek-Segafredo and CCC to remain with the British team in a deal believed to be worth about £3.5m a year.
Now, unless Team Sky Principal Sir Dave Brailsford, who comes from north Wales, finds a new sponsor for the 2020 season, Thomas will be looking for a new team.
So will his Welsh teammate Luke Rowe, who was a key worker when Thomas wore cycling’s iconic yellow jersey into Paris in a stunning upset.
Rowe also recently signed a contract extension to 2021 while the third Welsh rider on the team, 2016 Olympic track gold medallist Owain Doull, has until the end of next year.
Sky also announced 21st Century Fox would end its partnership of the team at the same time.
It is Great Britain’s most successful sporting team since its inception in 2010 with six Tour de France titles.
Sir Bradley Wiggins took its first in 2012, Chris Froome has taken four and Thomas one. Froome has also won the Tours of Italy and Spain.
“We came into cycling with the aim of using elite success to inspire greater participation at all levels,” said Jeremy Darroch, the Sky Group’s chief executive.
“After more than a decade of involvement, I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved with Team Sky and our long-standing partners at Brit- ish Cycling. But the end of 2019 is the right time for us to move on as we open a new chapter in Sky’s story.”
Despite the departure of Sky, the team hopes to secure a new sponsor for the 2020 season.
“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,” said Brailsford. “We aren’t finished yet by any means. There is another exciting year of racing ahead of us and we will be doing everything we can to deliver more Team Sky success in 2019.”
There has been controversies with the team fighting to defend its reputation since allegations of wrongdoing arose two years ago.
No doping charges were eventually made against Wiggins, Team Sky and British Cycling over the so-called Jiffy bag package and other allegations. But Team Sky and British Cycling faced criticism from both UK Anti-Doping and British MPs for their poorly organised medical practices.
Team Sky denied giving banned substances to riders for non-medical reasons but the Parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Committee concluded that they had “crossed an ethical line”.
Team Sky and British Cycling are also bracing themselves for the outcome of a British General Medical Council investigation into former team doctor Richard Freeman.
Freeman is set to face a GMC medical tribunal in the New Year concerning the 2011 delivery of testosterone patches to the British Cycling and Team Sky headquarters in Manchester.
Froome, meanwhile, was at the centre of an investigation after one of his urine samples taken at the 2017 Vuelta a Espana exceeded the permitted levels of salbutamol.
But cycling’s governing body, the UCI, with backing from the World Anti-Doping Agency, closed the case against him on the eve of this year’s Tour de France.
Froome could have faced a two-year ban and the loss of his Vuelta title if he had been found guilty of a doping offence. But the UCI and Wada were satisfied his use of the drug to treat asthma did not constitute an adverse analytical finding (AAF) and exonerated him.