Cycling: The Swiss WorldTour Team IAM Cycling is currently in its last season and will be dissolved at the end of the year. Corresponding rumors have recently been making the rounds, and a merger with BMC was also said to be in the room. But now it's clear: the curtain is finally falling - the reason is the unsuccessful search for a co-sponsor.
Two years after the WorldTour license was awarded to the racing team IAM Cycling, the adventure for the Swiss team is over. "IAM Cycling will cease operations at the end of the 2016 season," says a statement from team boss Michel Thétaz, who founded the team in 2013. In 2015, the jump to the top racing class, which was quite surprising at the time, followed, but the team never really gained a foothold in it.
Thétaz is also harsh on himself: "This is a personal failure and I take responsibility for it." The main reason for the withdrawal from cycling was the unsuccessful search for a co-sponsor. According to Thétaz, the annual budget of just 12 million euros is simply not enough to play a major role in the WorldTour. However, they deliberately did not want to take the step back into the ProContinental class. "That was unthinkable," says Thétaz, who can still look back with a good feeling. "Of course, I deeply regret this situation, but I prefer to be happy about everything we have achieved in the last four years."
This means that the drivers are also at a crossroads at the end of the season: Roger Kluge, Heinrich Haussler, Leigh Howard and Co. will have to look for a new team for 2017. It should also be exciting to see who will receive the two licenses that have become available from IAM and Tinkoff. An application from the German second division Bora-Argon 18 seems likely, after all, it had recently been emphasized several times that the WorldTour was the big goal.