Michele and I have been watching the Tour de France and started to wonder who exactly the sponsors are and what they do. I mean, we had no idea what Cofidis or Quick Step are or why they sponsor cycling teams.
I did a little research about the teams and who the major sponsors are:
2009 Tour de France Teams & Sponsors
AG2R-LaMondiale- French team sponsored by Ag2r Group, a French retirement fund, and LaMondiale, a French insurance firm
Agritubel - French team sponsored by Agritubel, a French maker of metal tubing for livestock on farms
Astana - Kazak team, sponsored by the Astana Group, a group of Astana government run companies
Bbox Bouygues Télécom - French team, sponsored by Bouygues Télécom, a French mobile phone company
Caisse d'Epargne - Spanish team, sponsored by Caisse d'Epargne, a French bank
Cervélo Test Team - Swiss Team, sponsored by Cervélo, a Canadian maker of bicycle frames
Cofidis - French team, sponsored by Cofidis, a French consumer lending company
Euskaltel-Euskadi - Basque Spanish team, sponsored by Euskaltel, a Basque telecom company
Française des Jeux - French team, sponsored by Française des Jeux, the French National Lottery
Garmin-Slipstream - American team, sponsored by Garmin, an American maker of global positioning devices
Lampre - Italian team, sponsored by Lampre Group, an Italian maker of pre-coated steel
Liquigas - Italian team, sponsored by Liquigas, an Italian provider of liquified gas products
Quick Step - Belgian team, sponsored by Quick Step, a maker of laminate flooring
Rabobank - Dutch team, sponsored by Rabobank, a Dutch bank
Silence-Lotto - Belgian team, sponsored by Lotto, the Dutch National Lottery, and Omega Pharma, a Belgian pharmaceutical company
Skil-Shimano - Dutch team, sponsored by Skil, a German make of power tools, and Shimano, a Japanese maker of bicycle components
Team Columbia-HTC - American team, sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, an American maker of sportwear, and HTC, a Taiwanese maker of mobile phones
Team Katusha - Russian team, sponsored by Russian Global Cycling Project, a foundation funded by Gazprom,
Itera and Rostechnologii
Team Milram - German team, sponsored by Milram, a German maker of cheese and dairy products
Team Saxo Bank - Danish team, sponsored by Saxo Bank, a Danish investment bank
Cheese makers, steel manufacturers, laminate flooring, and agricultural tubing? Who would have thought they are key parts of the sport of cycling?