By Tim Maloney, European Editor
After nine successful seasons in the European pro peloton, American bicycle manufacturer Cannondale has confirmed that it will continue to be part of European racing scene by sponsoring Continental Pro team Barloworld. The team will be managed by former Saeco and Lampre manager Claudio Corti, who took control of the UK registered and South African originated squad in late 2005 from former manager John Robertson.
A pleased Corti commented, "Cannondale always delivers more than a great bike and race clothing, they bring a unique personality to a team that creates excitement and generates enthusiasm for the sport." Led by 2003 World Champion Igor Astarloa and 2005 Tour de Langkawi champ Ryan Cox, Barloworld will be active in European, Asian and North American racing circuits.
Matt Mannelly, Cannondale's CEO, is very positive about the new relationship, explaining, "We have no intention of just supplying product. With Barloworld we'll be re-writing the rules on traditional sponsorships. We want to control our own destiny and will have part ownership of the squad."
Barloworld, a multi-national company with headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, Barloworld represents and manages many leading brands around the world in the transportation equipment field. Active in 31 countries, Barloworld has 23,000 employees and sales of US$3 billion. Barloworld has shown that they are committed to the sport of cycling with the long term objective of placing the first South African sponsored team on the podium at the Tour de France.
For Barloworld, in addition to supplying race bicycles, Cannondale will be designing and developing full team kit for the squad. The team will be riding Cannondale's revolutionary Six13 and Slice Aero TT machines. And, as with every Cannondale team, Cannondale engineers will use the Barloworld squad in the "Cannondale Product Creation Process" to pursue, develop and introduce new road technologies.
