WorldTour team Vacansoleil-DCM and Ridley part by end of the season

Vacansoleil-DCM and bike supplier Ridley choose to end their cooperation by the end of 2011. Later this week the Dutch WorldTour formation will announce its 2012 bike supplier, while Ridley joins Lotto. During the summer Ridley was approached by the Belgian lottery for a new project. Therefore the Belgian bike supplier and Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team reviewed their future plans.

Team manager Daan Luijkx:  “This year we benefited from the expertise and innovation of Ridley. We are very grateful to them for their great support and feel sorry not to be able to continue this collaboration. However the current changes in the WorldTour competition ask for flexibility from teams and sponsors which want to keep moving forward. After Ridley told us that they were considering a cooperation with the new Lotto formation, we mutually agreed that the team would start conversations with other bike brands interested in a long term partnership with the team.”

This new partner has been found: “Eventually we had the chance to choose from a handful of options. The intention is to work together for a period longer than 2013 and we just finalized the deal with a new long term partner, which we will release in a few days.”

For Ridley the Lotto project was a perfect match with their goals: “Of course it is interesting as a Belgian brand to be part of this new prestigious project. Furthermore for years Lotto is a fixed value in professional cycling and we signed a long term cooperation with them. In the near future we intend to collaborate on several levels of the pyramid of this sport and not only on the top.  Our cooperation with Vacansoleil-DCM went fluently but with this new opportunity we wouldn’t be able to extend our deal after 2013. That’s why we agreed on ending the cooperation by the end of this season so Vacansoleil-DCM had the opportunity to work on a long term partnership.”

Technical suppliers Fast Forward, Vredestein, Selle San Marco and KMC will remain with the team and the new bike supplier.