Cannondale and Liquigas join forces
Team Liquigas is one of the lucky ones this season, with two Grand Tours victories, a stable sponsorship, a roster free of doping scandals, and now a new co-sponsor, American bicycle manufacturer Cannondale. The team’s official name will change from Liquigas-Doimo
to Liquigas-Cannondale in 2011.
"Cannondale has competition in its DNA and Liquigas Sport has proved the ideal partner for our sport,” said general manager Bob Burbank.
“The challenges met by the athletes of the blue and green, including Ivan Basso, Vincenzo Nibali, and Peter Sagan, riding Cannondale SuperSix Hi-Mod bikes is the best representation of our daily effort to design bicycles.”
Cannondale also has a history as the team’s bicycle supplier, but will now have a direct working relationship with the cyclists on their bikes. It has also been confirmed that Liquigas will remain the team’s title sponsor, at least for the next two years.
Italian furniture company Doimo Group, this season’s co-sponsor, will also continue to fund the team in 2011.
"In recent years, Liquigas and Cannondale Sport have enjoyed a relationship that has gone beyond that which exists between a team and it's bicycle supplier,” said the team manager Roberto Amadio. "The relationship between the team and Doimo will continue.
We are delighted that such an important brand has decided to stay with us.”
The team is also supported by great riders. Earlier in the season, Liquigas team member Ivan Basso took his second overall victory at the Giro d’Italia. Vincenzo Nibali rode his homeland Grand Tour in support of Basso and finished third overall. The Italian
went on to prove himself to be the next Grand Tour contender with his recent overall victory at the Vuelta a Espana.
"At 25, Vincenzo Nibali is a young Italian rider who rides very well,” said cycling columnist Jean-François Bernard. “He is good in the mountains, very good in time trials and has already competed twice in the Tour de France, when we did not talk about him
much; he also finished 7th in the 2009 Tour.”
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