In an exclusive interview with Cyclingnews, Oleg Tinkov has revealed that Tinkoff Bank will ends its sponsorship and that he will sell the team at the end of the 2016 season.
The Russian businessman explained that he made the decision for both commercial and personal reasons. Tinkoff Bank has achieved its marketing goals after five years as a sponsor and Tinkov is angry and disappointed that nobody has supported his attempts to change the business model of professional cycling and reduce teams’ dependency on sponsorship.
Tinkov is currently with the Tinkoff team at a training camp in Gran Canaria and told the riders and team staff of his decision on Friday night. Only Peter Sagan and Rafa Majka have contracts for 2017.
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Team CEO Stefano Feltrin is working to find new sponsorship and a new owner for the team, with the goal of obtaining a new three-year WorldTour licence for 2017 until 2020 but if no backer is found the team will disappear after next season.
“All the contracts and sponsorships are in place for 2016 but it will be the last season in the sport for Tinkoff Bank and for me,” Tinkov told Cyclingnews.
“There are two main reasons for my decision and I hope people will understand them and then reflect on why professional cycling has lost a guy who has spent over €60 million and who loves the sport.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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