Talk:Unibet.com Cycling Team
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[edit] Not in the ProTour yet.
I really don't think Unibet has made it into the ProTour yet. See this article: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=features/2006/protour_licence_final, which was written on November 25, 2006.
- They aren't. I'll edit that out.--BGBkstroke 11:35, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
Moot Point—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.135.161.102 (talk) 15:37, December 17, 2006
[edit] Merge Discussion
Agree - it's the same team. One of these entries should be a redirect. kju 12:21, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
- Make the Team Unibet one a redirect. I think this one is a little better written and better organized, and the name "Unibet.com Cycling Team" is the correct name. --BGBkstroke 14:56, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
Agree - This obviously needs a merger.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.135.161.102 (talk) 15:35, December 17, 2006
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- There may be some material to include from the Fight for 2006 Pro Tour licence section of Unibet.com but it needs referencing. The rest is already better detailed on this page. Mk3severo 16:19, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
Am replacing the Team Unibet article with a redirect to this page.kju 03:06, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Remnants of Team Unibet article for incorporation after referencing
[edit] Fight for 2006 Pro Tour licence
After the collapse of the Fassa Bortolo team in September 2005 a vacant Pro Tour team spot became available. With Unibet.com agreeing to a budget increase for the team, Unibet's management decided that getting the licence was an achievable goal. As a result Unibet.com when on a spending spree, looking for high profile riders with large amounts of wins. One of the first riders to join Unibet was Baden Cooke who was reportedly unhappy with being asked to take a pay cut by the cash-strapped Francaise des Jeux team. However a problem loomed for Unibet.com because on October 10 a new team sponsored by Sony Ericsson started trying to sign up riders. With its very large budget riders seemed to be begging to get on the team. In 4 days Sony Ericsson had signed up riders like Stuart O'Grady and Gilberto Simoni but on the 14th of October, Sony Ericsson told the team that it wasn't sponsoring the team. Not only did this force O'Grady and Simoni to find new teams, it allowed Unibet to start chasing the ProTour licence again. After chasing the two high profile riders for a week the team settled on Carlos Garcia Quesada a Spanish climber with high hopes of the future. Unibet now had the complete 2006 roster with 3 big names in the team. By the end of October it emerged that the only other serious competitor for the licence was AG2R Prévoyance a French team with big name riders like Francisco Mancebo and Christophe Moreau. A big blow to Unibet came when Stefan van Dijck was convinced for drug offences by the Flemish anti-doping commission. Unfortunately for Unibet, AG2R had never been convinced of doping offences, putting in a big lead for the licence. By late November, when the UCI made its decision it was clear that would be chosen for two reasons. The main one being van Dijck doping offence, but the UCI was also influenced by the fact that if Unibet was given the licence it would have meant that 3 teams were based in Belgium compared to only 4 in France. After failing in the ProTour bid Unibet.com easily retained its Pro Continental licence.
