Cycling news - Team Sky 'likely to announce new main sponsor ahead of Giro'
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Updated 01/03/2019 at 09:48 GMT
Team Sky are "likely" to announce a new main sponsor ahead of the Giro d'Italia, according to sports director Matteo Tosatto.
Chris Froome
Image credit: Getty Images
The team were initially expecting that a new leading sponsor would be confirmed in time for the 2019 Tour de France with Sky stepping away at the end of the season.
But Tosatto has told the Spanish press a deal will now be in place ahead of May's Giro - and that it could be announced by then.
"Before the Giro, we should have an agreement [with a new sponsor] that will ensure the safety of the team," he told Marca.
It was only going to be finalised ahead of the Tour, but we are likely to announce it before the Corsa Rosa.
There had been reports that a consortium of Colombian sponsors could be in the mix, but Tosatto revealed it would be a European deal.
"It will be European, from home – de casa," he said.
"It's true that it was a possible avenue [Colombian consortium], but it hasn't happened," the 44-year-old said.
"Although the country has some great riders and a lot of passion for cycling, we weren't able to come to an agreement."
That detail has backed up what team principal Dave Brailsford told reporters in February when he said a deal with a Colombian sponsor would be "very unlikely".
"Colombian cycling has enormous potential – everybody knows that – but what we talked about with the government was a private matter," Brailsford said.
"However, I have no doubt that Colombian cycling will continue to grow. Colombia has a real possibility to become one of the world's leading cycling nations."
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