Riis Cycling, who currently ride under the pro name Saxo Bank-SunGard, have announced that their headline sponsor going forward into next season will be Saxo Bank alone, with SunGard, a software and technology services companies, no longer involved. Saxo Bank have been involved with the sponsorship deal with Riis since 2008 – In a joint statement, Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen, co-CEOs and founders of the trading and investment specialists said: ‘Saxo Bank was offered an option to become the sole title sponsor of Riis Cycling, which was an offer we could not turn down. From the outset, we have sincerely wanted to support Bjarne Riis and his team and with our continued geographical expansion, the sponsorship also makes good sense commercially. While the decision to continue as full title sponsor is a strategic one, our past collaboration with the team has been fantastic, and we are looking forward to watching Team Saxo Bank race across the streets of the world in 2012.’
Commenting on the announcement team owner Bjarne Riis added: ‘Since 2008 Saxo Bank and Riis Cycling have proven to be a great match. I am proud that a truly professional company such as Saxo Bank not only continues to see the commercial benefits in sponsoring our teams, but also shows its commitment and faith in our work by stepping up to become the sole title sponsor. This is evidence of a great partnership, and I’m convinced there are many more gains to be realized from this relationship in the future.’
SunGard have made it clear that the decision to drop sponsorship was based entirely in business strategy – From 2012 Riss will operate as ‘Team Saxo Bank Professional Cycling Team.’
