Lotto extends cycling sponsorship

The national lottery of Belgium has committed to another four years of supporting the Omega Pharma-Lotto professional cycling team of top Belgian rider Philippe Gilbert.

Lotto and Omega Pharma have been supporting the team since 2005 when it was known as Davitamon-Lotto, but the lottery has been supporting cycling teams since 1984 and will continue to be involved with the sport well into the future.

"The lottery will take its responsibility to keep Belgium at the top in an increasingly globalized world of cycling," Lotto said in a statement according to Belga.

"With 47 Belgian employees including 17 Belgian riders, Lotto along with Omega Pharma and all the other 2010 sponsors supported the largest and most successful Belgian cycling project."

The Omega Pharma-Lotto team scored 11 professional victories in 2010 with Gilbert achieving more than half of them. His wins included the Amstel Gold Race, stage wins in the Tour of Belgium and Vuelta a Espana and his season-ending Gran Piemonte and Giro di Lombardia victories.

21-year-old British rider Adam Blythe was the next most successful member of the team this year, with two stages and the overall victory in the Circuit Franco-Belge and the Nationale Sluitingprijs - Putte-Kapellen. Matthew Lloyd's Giro d'Italia stage win and Jurgen Van Den Broeck's fifth overall in the Tour de France rounded out the team's success this year.