Cycling: Team Belkin will no longer exist in the coming season. As the sponsor surprisingly announced today, the US company will withdraw from cycling.
Belkin only got into the sport as a sponsor last summer as part of the Tour de France and had acquired the naming rights of Team Blanco at the time. The company gave a reorientation in the global marketing of its brands Belkin, WeMo and Linksys as the reason for the withdrawal.
“It’s a great shame that this still young partnership won’t continue ,” said Richard Plugge, manager of Team Belkin, which also includes two Germans, Paul Martens and Robert Wagner. “We will now immediately begin the search for new sponsors. We are confident about the future and expect to start the 2015 season with a new sponsor.”
Nonetheless, Belkin's withdrawal could result in the loss of many stars. The transfer market is already on the move and will experience a high point with the Tour de France at the latest. The new transfers can then be announced from August 1st.