Vien wrote:
Oh boy, Yates to ToA perhaps?

jph27 wrote:


Damnit, my cunning plan seen through within 5 minutes

With the 2018 season drawing to a close, all is not well at Ayubowan! Since 2015 the team has operated as a Sri Lankan registered team, with the backing of a consortium of sponsors from the island nation. Originally a 5 year deal was signed, with the aim being to help develop Sri Lankan cycling and aid the push to host the Commonwealth Games in Hambantota in either 2018 in 2022.

However, the Commonwealth Games bid has now twice been unsuccessful - and the Ayubowan! team hasn't fared much better. A break clause in the contract allowed sponsorship to be withdrawn if less than 3 of the 5 seasons it covered were to be spent in the PCT. And with the failure to promote this season, that break clause has become an option taken by the consortium backing the team.

Alternative sponsorship arrangements haven't been made for next season as until only a few weeks ago, there was no expectation that the team wouldn't promote. Even then, it was promised that if Suranga Ranaweera was to win the Tour de l'Avenir then funding would be guaranteed for another 3 years as part of an aim to create a Sri Lankan GT winner - 7 seconds made all the difference to the future of the team.

Crisis talks have been had with the MGUCI about the potential for the team to either disband and start afresh, or voluntarily relegate to CT due to the reduced budget. However both of these requests were declined, meaning the team will continue in the PCT under the name of De Stijl Cycling and with a British licence, until major sponsorship can be found - likely not until the 2020 season. For the Sri Lankan riders on the team, their future is also uncertain with their continued employment relying on talent, rather than being a condition of the sponsorship deal.

Ollfardh wrote:
You want to go to the CT, I don't want to go to the CT.
You don't want to go to the PCT, I would like to stay in PCT.

Am I the only one seeing a good solution here?

Croatia14 wrote:
still don't really understand what went wrong...maybe too much faith in Lander?

whitejersey wrote:
Sad to see such an iconic project be left to the wayside. Also can understand why you would want to rebuild in CT due the emphasis on promoting Sri Lankan talent over the past few years, which has yet to pay off. Hopefully with a more lenient transfer policy you should be able to finally gain PT promotion!

SotD wrote:
The issue here clearly being the inability to let Petit go to Festina! But atleast maybe not Turgis can be free'ed from this PCT nightmare

It will be very interesting to see what happens. I feel like your should have managed to promote with the setup you have. Also a bunch of those Sri Lankan riders should become very interesting from next season already. Ranaweera, Silva, Prasad and Perera could be targets for some PT teams certainly - But I guess all of them are still likely to stay given you you put the description

Just a few weeks ago, the team currently known as Ayubowan! seemed to be in a spot of trouble. The Sri Lankan consortium backing the team had pulled out, and no alternative sponsor could be found to back a team that seemed set for another season of transition in the PCT. But then, disbandments in the PT gave the Sri Lankan registered team an opportunity to promote, and suddenly everything started to look a lot brighter for the team.

While there was a slim possibility that the Sri Lankan sponsors would return, both parties agreed a mutual separation was the best option after the difficulties over the last year. Long term sponsor LOOK also considered stepping into the breach, but the costs of maintaining a PT team put them off - they will however return as bike sponsors for another season.

However, a completely new company stepped into the breach in Anglo-Portuguese online fashion retailer Farfetch who will be title sponsors for the next season - and hopefully longer. Their connections with major independent cycling equipment retailers was a key part of their decision to sponsor this project, and with Rapha and POC coming on board to provide jerseys and equipment respectively we expect Farfetch Pro Cycling to be the best dressed team in the PT next season!

jandal7 wrote:
I have to say a company coming in this last minute seems a little farfetch'd