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?

Posted by michael at July 08, 2009 08:04 AM