Cycling: Good news for Team Belkin on the second rest day of the Tour de France. According to a report by Telegraaf the Dutch lottery company will take over the role of the outgoing main sponsor Belkin.
“We are working on the final details”, team manager Richard Plugge is quoted as saying. "We've been working on this plan for a while, but discussions only became more concrete once we knew that Belkin would be pulling out."
In addition to the lottery company, the company BrandLoyalty is also to step in as a sponsor. The company currently supports speed skaters Sven Kramer and Stefan Groothuis.
"We will combine cycling with speed skating, especially from a logistical and sporting point of view", says BrandLoyalty founder Robert van der Wallen said.
The lottery company will pay for the majority of the budget, and Plugge should also be able to draw on 2,5 million euros from the Rabobank period. As a bike manufacturer, Bianchi would also like to invest further in the team. This seems to secure the future of the team. However, it remains uncertain whether they will also sail under the WorldTour flag in 2015.