The team briefly known as Fortitude Pro Cycling has signed a title sponsor and will be called WM3 Energie through 2017 and beyond, the result of a five-year sponsorship deal that extends through the 2020 Olympic Games.
The project is a carryover from the outgoing Rabo – Liv program and is built around multi-time world champion Marianne Vos. Rabo manager Eric van den Boom, who called the sponsorship a “gigantic boost for cycling,” will manage the team.
Vos will be joined by five of her Rabo – Liv teammates and five newcomers. The team loses two major stars in Anna van der Breggen and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, but retains Vos’s star power, Polish champion Katarzyna Niewiadoma, and Dutch champion Anouska Koster.
Vos announced that Rabo would continue as Fortitude Pro Cycling in late September but did not name a title sponsor then. At the time, it appeared that the team would seek to combine sponsors of all sizes to generate a workable budget.
WM3 is a sustainable energy company. “The idea of training riders and them being a source of inspiration for the growing group of recreational and sports cyclists, really appeals to us,” said the company’s director Peter Tuijl. “That is why we are happy to be a part of it, for many years to come.”
WM3 Energie roster:
Rotem Gafinovitz
Yara Kastelijn
Lauren Kitchen
Jeanne Korevaar
Anouska Koster
Riejanne Markus
Katarzyna Niewiadoma
Anna Plichta
Valentina Scandolara
Moniek Tenniglo
Marianne Vos
The post Marianne Vos team signs title sponsor to five-year deal appeared first on VeloNews.com.