The rumours had it since a few days already, the Dutch bank confirmed it at the end of this afternoon: Rabobank adds a a women's team as it's fourth cycling team.
In 2012 it will be the 16th year that Rabobank sponsors a cycling team. Indeed, in 1996 the Rabobank pro team started. Also present as a sponsor of the Dutch federation KNWU, of the U23 team Rabobank Continental Team and since 2010 also as the sponsor of an off road team (cyclo cross and mountain bike) which is called Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team, Rabobank has always very well taken up the role of a responsible sponsor of Dutch cycling*.
Indeed, the goal has always been to allow Dutch cycling to progress globally in both branches (road and "offroad"). This will again be the case, from 2012, in women's cycling.
Currently the other Dutch riders of the team are Loes Gunnewijk, Janneke Kanis, Noortje Tabak and Marieke van Wanroij but the team also has 4 foreign riders: the Swiss Emilie Aubry and Patricia Schwager, the German Sarah Düster and the English Emma Trott. They are managed by Jeroen Blijlevens, directeur sportif of the team and winner of 4 sprints in the Tour de France, 2 in the Giro d'Italia and 5 in the Vuelta a España.
The team will be officially presented early December and now knows it'll have the support of the Rabobank for at least 2 years. Other sponsors will be Giant which will provide the bikes and insurance company Interpolis which is partly owned by Rabobank.
* several local offices of Rabobank also sponsor local cycling events and Rabobank also each year publishes a cyclotourism calendar
The reaction of the concerned parties
Following the agreement on the sponsoring take-over, Jeroen Blijlevens showed his happiness by saying: We are extremely pleased with the opportunity Rabobank Wielerploegen is offering us. Marianne Vos was happy as well: For several years now Rabobank is a well-known team and sponsor. Their professionalism and structure can allow our team and women's cycling as a whole to progress.
On the sponsor's side, there's an explanation about the reasons of this new sponsoring. Bert Bruggink, member of the bank's board of management, said: setting up a women's team is a logical next step since we support cyclism in a broad way. We're sponsoring women's cycling since a long time already through our partnership with KNWU. By sponsoring a team around Marianne Vos we add the missing piece of the puzzle.
Harold Knebel, director of Rabobank Wielerploegen, added: We hope that our experience and expertise will allow women's cycling to progress. This sponsoring is not really a surprise. We've been talking with them since a long time now. This was the right moment to continue to support Marianne and her team because of the uncertainty around the possibility to continue.
The CEO of Giant, Tony Lo, declared: Giant and Rabobank share a deep commitment to the sport of cycling. Together, we have a history of supporting successful road, off-road and cyclocross programs, and we're happy to extend that support with a new world class women's road racing team.
As a reminder, Rabobank will also be the main sponsor the World Championships in Limburg in The Netherlands in 2012.
(photo illustration of this article: Marianne Vos by Thomas Vergouwen/velowire.com, the car by Rogier Schilperoord) by Thomas Vergouwen
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