Mark Cavendish’s Omega Pharma-Quick Step team will be changing its name from next season to Etixx-Quick Step, after the announcement of a three-year sponsorship deal. The new title sponsor is a brand belonging to the Omega Pharma group.
It’s not the first time that the Belgium-based pharmaceuticals business has used one of its brands in cycling sponsorship.
Previously, when Belgium’s national lottery was co-sponsor, the team went by the names of Davitamon-Lotto and Predictor-Lotto, Predictor being a range of self-diagnostic products including pregnancy testing kits.
Sports nutrition brand Etixx, founded in 2009, has already announced a sponsorship of French Ligue 1 football club Lille Olympique. Although it had a stockmarket flotation earlier this year, Omega Pharma remains its main shareholder, and is now looking to push the brand internationally.
In a press release issued this afternoon, Omega Pharma highlights that in the early stages of Etixx’s development in 2007, the first formulations of the as yet unnamed brand were developed in partnership with the likes of the Astana cycling team.
That’s a curious thing to boast about, perhaps, given that was the year the Kazakh outfit was kicked out of the Tour de France after Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for an illegal blood transfusion.
One feature of the range that is highlighted by Etixx is “the guarantee that every batch distributed is exempt from doping substances, or traces of doping substances”. That’s perhaps an important consideration given how often athletes claim contaminated supplements as mitigation when accused of doping. Etixx claims this is “unique in the world of sports nutrition.”
The company adds: “This means that Etixx is going far beyond official anti-doping bodies’ regulations and national anti-doping laws: the charter means, among other things, that every batch produced is only released after it has been tested for the presence of banned substances, and that Etixx holds back reference samples after each batch produced for up to two years after their expiry date.”
If he's not charging VAT yet then it would appear he's making well under 25 bikes per year currently. 8 full builds at 10-15k would send you over...
That looks like a fun bike. Frame only, 2 and an 1/2 grand.
Does this count as social media?
But down the line it can put a big dent in its resale value which ups leasing costs and the amount of cash an owner is throwing at their status...
Only reading the headline on the homepage, not the rest of the article, but I only ride mountain bikes and I still get close passed...
Fair enough, personal experience may trump (not that one) theory. However, the bonking I have experienced has been due to lack of carbs. Your point...
Agreed, but he was still right to publicise the event. The police, if they're anything like Lancashire, will do nothing at all.
mdavidfrodo?
in the UK we have policing which to a greater or lesser extent relies on assistance from members of the public......
Just wanted to share a quick thank you to everyone who helped out in this thread....