UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling men`s and women`s teams will fold if management company Momentum Sports Group does not find a replacement title sponsor by August 30, at which point the they will refocus on 2020. The team`s owner Thierry Attias told Cyclingnews that he will not meet the August 15 deadline to request an application from the UCI to renew the men`s team`s Professional Continental licence. `The team has not requested a Pro Conti licence at this point. We are still waiting on final decisions from two potential partners,` Attias told Cyclingnews. UnitedHealthcare, a health insurance provider, has been the title sponsor of the team for nine seasons, but told Attias over a year ago that they would not renew their contract with the team upon its expiration date at the end of this year. UnitedHealthcare has gone through management changes and had decided that it was redundant to sponsor two cycling teams, as Rally is under the same parent company UnitedHealth Group, and it chose to continue funding Rally Cycling.ADVERTISEMENT However, Attias told Cyclingnews in an earlier interview that he was very grateful for the nine years of sponsorship, `In terms of performance and our relationship with UnitedHealthcare, it is all very positive because they have been a super partner, progressive thinking, and I have nothing but positives to say about our relationship. They sponsored us for nine years, when the average length for a title sponsor is five years, and so we are very happy overall.` Attias has been in discussion with multiple potential replacement sponsors for months now but none have signed the dotted line on a new deal yet. He said that he was up front with his riders and staff about the sponsorship situation and set a deadline of July 31 with which to notify his staff and athletes of the status of the sponsorship search. This deadline was to allow them time to find contracts with other teams for the upcoming season. It has already been reported that Ka ...
|
