Sometimes women’s cycling teams struggle to find investors willing to stump up the cash required to support a proper pro outfit. That impacts the level at which riders can compete and therefore the strength of the sport.
For that reasons, we’re always happy to hear it when a sponsor extends their support – it shows they’re seeing worthwhile benefits from having a hand in women’s cycling, and secures the immediate future for the team.
Cervélo: We do care about women, but it’s been badly communicated
Therefore, we were thrilled to hear that Bigla – the Swiss manufacturers of high-end hospital care and office furniture – have agreed a contract extension with Cervélo Bigla Pro Cycling Team that will see the relationship continue until 2018.
So far this season, the team has enjoyed 8 victories and an additional 18 podium spots. Many will remember the names Lotta Lepistö and Ashleigh Moolman- Pasio from the Aviva Women’s Tour. The former won the final stage from a successful breakaway, and the latter was second on General Classification.
Team Manager, Thomas Campana explained the importance of the news saying: “Bigla has inspired us for many years because they had the vision to grow women’s cycling over a decade ago,” Campana said. “We could go so far as to say Bigla is women’s cycling. The list of athletes they have supported over the years is incredible. If you go onto what the riders have achieved, it inspires us to get out of bed every day and build a really special project to honour Bigla and our other partners. We want to thank Fritz Boesch and Monika Loeffel-Boesch, Bigla is not just a partner, it stands for women’s cycling.”
Bigla’s owner, Monika Loeffel-Boesch said: “We’re proud to be a supporter of this project. Switzerland is an important market for us and it’s great to have the team based here but also racing across Europe. We love what the women have achieved over the last few years and it is in conjunction with what we as a company achieves. We have very high standards and believe in being world class so it’s great to partner with a high performance cycling team with the same values.”
Next up on the teams agenda is the Internationale Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen (15 – 21 July) followed by La Course by Le Tour de France on 24 July.
Read more about how the team work with their bike sponsor Cervélo, here.
