Belkin Sponsored Blanco Pro Cycling Team

American consumer technology company Belkin has become the title sponsor of the Blanco Pro men’s cycling team, previously sponsored by Rabobank.

During the 30-month deal, they will be renamed Belkin Pro Cycling Team.

The new team will make its debut at this year’s Tour de France, which begins this weekend in Corsica.

Rabobank pulled out in late 2012, saying it did not believe the international professional cycling world “can make the sport a clean, fair sport”.

The Dutch financial organization continued to fund the men’s team this year, although the team was not named after it.

The monetary value of the new sponsorship deal has not been disclosed.

‘The perfect team’

Explaining the deal, Belkin CEO Chet Pipkin, who also founded the company in 1983, said the bike has “a passionate, tech-savvy fan base who pays close attention to the industry. sport, which fits very well with the Belkin brand.”

He also said the partnership with such a “full-fledged professional cycling team” would allow the company to introduce itself to millions of potential new customers around the world.

Belkin manufactures a wide range of electronics, from wireless home networking and entertainment products to mobile accessories for smartphones and tablets, home automation and energy management tools, and USB and cable products.

The Playa Vista, California-based company employs 1,500 people and has salespeople in more than 100 countries – signed on as a title sponsor through the end of 2015, which will cover three games Tour de France.

The Belkin team will consist of 29 drivers and five nationalities.

Its jerseys and apparel, bikes, vehicles, website and social media assets are being updated with new Belkin Pro Cycling Team logos and colors: black, white and green, and will feature both the Belkin and Linksys logos.

Ten goals

Belkin Pro Cycling general manager Richard Plugge told the BBC the sponsorship deal was a huge boost for the team, which has won 19 races this season.

Looking ahead to the Tour de France, he said the team’s goal is to get rider Bauke Mollema into the top 10 as much as possible.

If Morama “does well and the situation is right,” he said, it could be at the high end of the top 10.

“If it’s possible to finish second, we won’t be happy with third,” he added.

On the issue of doping in cycling, he said he believed the culture of the sport had changed and teams would take a “severe” and “zero tolerance” approach to doping or any other misdemeanor.

around the BBC