Hitec Products team makes public plea for extra funding

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The women's Hitec Products Birk Sport team has made a plea for extra funding after revealing it is struggling to cover the increased costs of competing in the women's WorldTour calendar.

The Norwegian-based team recently won a stage and the overall classification at the Tour of Chongming Island WorldTour race with Charlotte Becker but took to social media to reveal its financial problems.

"Everything is not good for Norway's only professional women's at the moment," the team admitted in a message via Twitter.

"Reduced sponsor income, combined with increasing licence costs from the UCI and federations, insurance, travel and equipment all lead to the team being in financial difficulty, and it's already had to reduce the activity and the equipment levels.

"This is not really a new situation for the team. We have always had higher costs as a Norwegian team but have always managed to survive without letting the outside world know of our problems. But the hard times in the offshore markets and the other markets in the last three years have made it increasingly difficult and now the further survival of the team is in danger.

"We are dependent on fresh cash from sponsors to complete the season, and are searching for new partners to be able to continue the development of Norwegian women's cycling."

The Hitec Products Birk Sport team has a 13-rider roster this season that includes Tatiana Guderzo, Danish national champion Camilla Møllebro and Becker. The team has been active since 2009 with some of the sport's best riders on its roster over the years.

The team asked its social media followers for help in spreading the word about its problems in the hope of finding new funding so it can complete the 2018 season. They have also set up a GoFundMe page.