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Unibet pull sponsorship deal

2017-09-13 13:11:03

Only a few days after it was announced that American cycling team Cannondale-Drapac may not be able to compete in events next year due to the last-minute withdrawal of an expected sponsor the name of the company has been revealed. It’s believed that Unibet were the potential backer and although it hasn’t been officially announced the company has been named by a number of well-respected cycling news outlets such as Cycling Weekly and AD.nl.

Unibet and Cannondale-Drapac


Unibet had previously sponsored the Cannondale-Drapac team between 2006 and 2007. The deal was somewhat controversial and sparked a furious debate between the team owners and the Tour de France organizers ASO. It was argued that the Unibet sponsorship deal was against French gambling laws and ASO refused to allow them to participate in the Tour de France. As a result, Unibet withdraw their sponsorship of the team.

A Collapsed Deal


Despite their previous experience Unibet were initially happy to pair up with the team for the upcoming cycling season. Cannondale-Drapac CEO Jonathan Vaughters described the negotiations as being “a done deal – I mean, I thought we had an agreement”. Talking to Business Insider he added; “We were deciding on the uniform design and how the bus was going to look”. Images of these uniforms have since emerged with Unibet branding. Vaughters had been so sure of the deal going ahead that he had already offered contract extensions to a number of riders including Tour de France runner up Rigoberto Uran. However, when the sponsorship deal collapsed these contract offers were quickly withdrawn.