Unibet.com
Unibet.com was a Belgian cycling team that rode in the UCI ProTour under a Swedish license.
history
The formation, founded in 2001, was part of the Professional Continental Teams in 2005 and 2006 . Until 2005, MrBookmaker.com, which offers sports betting on the Internet, was the sponsor. In 2005 MrBookmaker.com was bought up by Unibet.com and in 2006 the team started under a new name with a higher budget. Well-known drivers such as Baden Cooke , Marco Zanotti and Carlos García Quesada were signed up .
For the 2007 season , the team received a ProTeam license from the UCI World Cycling Federation . However, at the beginning of the season, the team struggled with several problems. For example, the team in France was not allowed to compete with its main sponsor on the jersey in the one-day race Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise and at several stages of the Étoile de Bessèges , as advertising for private betting providers is prohibited in France. The team then competed in their jerseys with a question mark on their chest.
In addition, Unibet.com was a victim in the dispute between the world cycling association UCI and the racing organizers ASO , Unipublic and RCS-Sport. Since the founding of the UCI ProTour, the race organizers have resisted the fact that their most important races, such as the Tour de France , the Giro d'Italia , the Vuelta a España and eight other races, took place as part of the ProTour and were therefore subject to the regulations of the racing series . Since Unibet.com had a ProTour license, the team was actually automatically entitled to start all races in the ProTour. But ASO, Unipublic and RCS-Sport ignored the regulations of the UCI ProTour and invited the teams themselves, Unibet.com was not invited to any of the three organizers' races, so the ProTour license was basically worthless.
After an arbitration meeting, they at least agreed to examine Unibet.com's application. The ASO, organizer of the Tour de France, cited the advertising ban for private betting providers in France as the main reason for ignoring the team. Unibet.com therefore entered French races under the name of co-sponsor Canyon , a German bike manufacturer. Nevertheless, there was no invitation to one of the three major country tours. As a result of this conflict, the team was disbanded in late 2007 after Unibet.com withdrew from cycling. Team manager Jacques Hanegraaf founded the Cycle Collstrop team in 2008 as the successor team.
2007 season
Successes in the ProTour
date | run | driver |
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23rd June |
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Success in the Europe Tour
date | run | driver |
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January 19th |
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February 6th |
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February 8 |
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7th March |
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9th March |
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9-11 March |
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April 8th |
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31. May |
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June 9th |
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June 28th |
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July 28th |
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August 22nd |
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22-26 August |
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21st September |
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15th October |
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14.-21. October |
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Team 2007
Placements in UCI rankings
UCI Europe Tour
season | Team ranking | Driver ranking |
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2005 | 8th. |
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2006 | 2. |
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2007 |
UCI Oceania Tour
season | Team ranking | Driver ranking |
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2006 | 10. | |
2007 |
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ radsport-news.com from February 7, 2007: Unibet.com: Trouble with the organizers
- ↑ radsport-news.com of March 22, 2007: In France, Unibet is now called Canyon
- ↑ radsport-news.com of August 15, 2007: Bets are no longer accepted on Unibet.com
- ↑ radsport-news.com of January 11, 2008: ProConti license for the new Hanegraaf team
Web links
- The 2007 team in the Radsportseiten.net database