Cycle Collstrop

Cycle Collstrop
Team information
UCI code COS
Registered Netherlands
Founded 2001
Disbanded 2008
Discipline Road
Status Professional Continental
Key personnel
General manager Koen Terryn
Team manager(s) Jacques Hanegraaf
Jersey

Cycle Collstrop (UCI Team Code: COS) was a Swedish UCI Professional Continental cycling team. It was the successor to Unibet.com, which was mainly sponsored by the online gambling website Unibet.com and as a continuation of the MrBookmaker.com cycling team.

The team rode on the European Continental Circuit, until the beginning of the 2007 season, when they were granted a ProTour licence.[1] In 2008, they were awarded a Professional Continental licence. The new team was led by Steffen Wesemann, and problems previously experienced through having had sponsorship from a betting company were avoided with new sponsorship from a wooden flooring company.

Unibet.com had also been drawn into the Operación Puerto doping investigation. The cyclist Carlos Quesada was named by the Spanish authorities as a patient of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes and was suspended by the team.[2] Although Quesada had been named, he has not yet been formally charged with doping, which led to the management of Unibet.com to lift its suspension of Quesada two weeks after it was imposed.[3] Nevertheless, the team did not pay the Spanish cyclist his salary, which led to a lawsuit, finally resolved with Quesada leaving the team in exchange for a compensation.

The team, whose sponsors have pulled out of cycling, failed to submit its application for renewal by the 20 November 2007 deadline and did not take part in the 2008 UCI ProTour.[4] Many of the team members went to the newly formed team Vacansoleil.

Dispute with race organisers

Despite obtaining a ProTour license for the 2007 season, Unibet.com were not granted entry in Paris–Nice, the inaugural race of the series. The organiser of the French race, Amaury Sport Organisation, argued that French law bans gambling companies (except for Française des Jeux and PMU, as well as some casinos). Nevertheless, Unibet.com took part in the French races GP La Marseillaise and Étoile de Bessèges with special jerseys without their sponsor's name.

RCS also snubbed Unibet.com for the Tirreno–Adriatico, explaining that Italian gambling law required a special license for Unibet. However, as the Unibet.com management pointed out, Unibet did have the license, while Predictor-Lotto's sponsor (the Belgian national lottery) did not, but the Belgian squad was allowed to race on Italian soil. RCS further contradicted themselves when they later invited Unibet.com to Milan–San Remo in which Jeremy Hunt was their best rider, finishing in 17th place, ahead of former winners such as Filippo Pozzato or Paolo Bettini.

However, Unibet.com was not chosen to ride in any of the three Grand Tours.

2007 ProTeam

Major results

Final Roster

Name Birthdate Nationality Team 2007 Team 2009
Borut Božič 8. August 1980  Slovenia Team L.P.R. Vacansoleil
Tom Criel 6. June 1983  Belgium Unibet.com Topsport Vlaanderen
Bas Giling 4. November 1982  Netherlands Wiesenhof-Felt Team Designa Køkken
Michał Gołaś 29. April 1984  Poland Unibet.com Amica Chips-Knauf
Sergey Kolesnikov 3. September 1986  Russia Unibet.com Moscow
David Kopp 5. January 1979  Germany Team Gerolsteiner Elite 2
Sergey Lagutin 14. January 1981  Uzbekistan Navigators Insurance Cycling Team Vacansoleil
Marco Marcato 11. February 1984  Italy Team L.P.R. Vacansoleil
Lucas Persson 16. March 1984  Sweden Unibet.com Continental Team Capinordic
Matthé Pronk 1. July 1974  Netherlands Unibet.com Vacansoleil
Sergey Rudaskov 6. August 1984  Russia Neo-pro Elite 2
Mirko Selvaggi 11. February 1985  Italy Neo-pro Amica Chips-Knauf
Raynold Smith 20. November 1985  South Africa Ex-Pro (Fondas Imabo 2005) Elite 2
Gil Suray 29. August 1984  Belgium Unibet.com Roubaix - Lille Metropole
Kenny Van Der Schueren 20. July 1982  Belgium Unibet.com Continental Palmans-Cras
Troels Vinther 24. February 1987  Denmark Unibet.com Team Capinordic
Steffen Wesemann 11. March 1971   Switzerland Wiesenhof-Felt Retired

References

  1. ↑ Stokes, Shane (15 December 2006). "Unibet in, Saiz out, ProTour place still possible for Astana". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  2. ↑ Quesada temporarily suspended
  3. ↑ Quesada to compete again
  4. ↑ uciprotour.com
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