Is Giant positioned to become the new bike sponsor of the current BMC Racing, and will Dimension Data sponsor Deloitte also join the American registered World Tour team in 2019?
- Tech Rumour: Could Team Sunweb switch from Giant to Cervélo next season?
That’s the latest rumour doing the rounds on the internet at the moment thanks to some reporting by De Telegraaf journalist Raymond Kerckhoff.
Yesterday he broke the story about Cervelo replacing Giant, and today he has tweeted saying Deloitte and Giant to take over the BMC team and securing the services of Greg van Avermaet and Rohan Dennis.
Deloitte-Giant nemen BMC-ploeg over. Toekomst team Greg v Avermaet en o.a. Rohan Dennis gegarandeerd. Meer vandaag in De Telegraaf.
— Raymond Kerckhoffs (@raykerckhoffs) May 17, 2018
BMC’s future is currently uncertain. It has been hunting for a sponsor to replace the bicycle brand BMC Switzerland, whose founder Andy Rihs died last month at the age of 75.
BMC has been in the professional peloton since 2007 and has enjoyed some big results, plus some lean years. It won the Tour de France in 2011 with Cadel Evans, and Greg van Avermaet won Olympic gold in 2016 and followed that up with victory at Paris-Roubaix last year.
BMC Racing’s manager Jim Ochowicz has been speaking at the Tour of California this week and sounds optimistic that a sponsor or sponsors will be found to replace BMC.
“It’s an ongoing process that still continues. There is no confirmed title yet but activation is always happening daily. Sure, I’m optimistic,” Ochowicz told Cycling Central.
If Cervelo does replace Giant at Sunweb, Giant will surely be keen to retain a presence in the professional peloton and the opening at BMC could be a good match.
Where this leaves Mark Cavendish’s Dimension Data team if its bike partner and headline sponsor leave for other teams in 2019 remains to be seen.
Would the team fold as a result, or could new sponsors be secured in time and would it be able to secure a new bike sponsor, presuming Cervelo chooses not to back two teams?
More on this story as it unfolds...
- 2018 WorldTour race bikes - The complete list of this year's race bikes
David has worked on the road.cc tech team since July 2012. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds.