More: Vande Velde in new team kit at Tour de France
Another US-based pro cycling team is getting a sponsor makeover in preparation for the Tour de France.
Pro continental cycling team Slipstream-Chipotle is changing its name to “Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30” after Garmin International signed on as a title sponsor, says a press release.
The new sponsorship won't effect the ownership of the cycling team by Slipstream Sports LLC, a sports management company co-owned by Doug Ellis and Jon Vaughters. Racing as TIAA-CREF from 2004 to 2006, the cycling team started 2007 with the sport's most intensive anti-doping testing. It has become a standard for many other teams to follow.
Garmin International is part of Garmin Ltd., which is based in the Cayman Islands. Most of its products, such as that Garmin computer on your handlebars, find different uses for satellite navigation technology.
If this sponsor-change story sounds repetitive, it is. US-based Team High Road changed its name to Team Columbia this week, and the owner of Team CSC took on Saxo Bank as co-sponsor for the remainder of this year; Saxo becomes the sole sponsor next year.
About the sponsorships, VeloNews says:
“The three signings represent a positive step for professional cycling, which over the last year saw the demise of the Discovery Channel team as well as longtime sponsors T-Mobile and CSC terminate their involvement with the sport.
“And while European ProTour teams Gerolsteiner and Crédit Agricole are still searching for new title sponsors, Vaughters said the recent signings — all, he noted, for teams running independent, third-party anti-doping programs —represents a shift towards accountability and responsibility within team management.”
Expect to see those new team jerseys just prior to the Tour de France, which runs from July 5-27.
Principal cyclists on Slipstream include US-cyclists David Zabriskie, Christian Vande Velde, Danny Pate, Tom Danielson and Tyler Farrar, as well as David Millar, Julian Dean and Magnus Backstedt.
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