The Tinkoff Team raced its last race at the Abu Dhabi Tour on Sunday, bringing down the curtain on five years of sponsorship from the Russian online bank and 15 years of the team structure originally created by Bjarne Riis.
Erik Kolar contested the final sprint for the team finishing tenth behind Mark Cavendish on stage 4. Alberto Contador finished fifth overall despite a lack of form, perhaps stung by the criticism of team owner Oleg Tinkov in a final interview with Cyclingnews. The Spaniard limited his comments to the media, signing off with a brief 'happy holidays' after the finishing the stage. He remains officially under contract until December 31 and has opted to bite his tongue rather than respond to Tinkov.
The team rode in retro version of its cycling kit during the Abu Dhabi Tour and the riders and staff at the race posed for a final photograph before Sunday's final stage. Afterwards everyone shook hands and hugged as fans grabbed a team bidon as a souvenir.
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Team manager Stefano Feltrin watched the race from the pits of the Yas Marina Formula 1 motor racing circuit. He has worked with team owner Oleg Tinkov for 14 years and tried to find a new title sponsor for the team when Tinkov decided to end his backing last winter. He failed to find a company or brand willing to spend €20 million to keep the team alive and so began to dismantle the team after the Tour de France. A team bus has been sold to the new Aqua Blue Sport Irish Professional Continental team, bikes and other equipment of value has been sold to the highest bidder.
"It's actually an emotional moment," Feltrin told Cyclingnews. "It's the end of a cycle in lots of ways, it's the end of the team. Peter (Sagan) will race in the Saitama criterium next week but the Abu Dhabi Tour is the final race for the Tinkoff team and so this is the end."
"It's an emotional moment but the sadness and disappointment is tempered by the satisfaction and pride of knowing that we achieved some great results out on the road as a team in the way we presented ourselves. I think we were innovative. Some people like what we did, others less so but I think the results are clear: we made an impact on the sport. I think we'll leave a good impression after everything is done and dusted and the team no longer exists."
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