Team director Matt Jewett is confident he'll be able to land a new sponsor for the SoBe/Cannondale mountain bike squad, following SoBe's decision earlier this week to not renew its sponsorship of the pro-am team for 2004. “I'm very optimistic that we'll be able to line up a new co-sponsor,” said Jewett. “It certainly helps that we're coming off the team's best season ever. We sent six riders to the 2003 World Championships, and we scored our first-ever #1 NORBA team ranking this year.”
SoBe remains one of the team's biggest boosters, and their enthusiasm for the program should help Jewett in his search for a new sponsor. “We've shared a fantastic relationship with Cannondale over the past five years, and would be hard-pressed to find a more perfect marketing partner,” said Mike Joyce, SoBe's Director of Integrated Marketing. “We're huge fans of the Cannondale program, and consider the team part of SoBe's extended family.”
“With this partnership, SoBe as a brand accomplished what we set out to do – which was to encourage the healthy, active lifestyle that mountain bikers celebrate,” added Joyce. “We thank the company and its riders for its tremendous support of SoBe, and believe they have helped to make our brand what it is today.”
Jewett was quick to praise SoBe for all the company has done for the team and the sport. “SoBe has been a wonderful partner for five great years… arguably one of the best partners our sport has ever seen,” said Jewett. “Not only have they supported the team, but they've also been a strong sponsor of NORBA events. Few other companies have been such a good friend to mountain biking over the years.”
Started in 1999, the team has supported grassroots cycling with a sizeable roster and displayed a knack for spotting and nurturing talented, up-and-coming racers. A measure of the team's historical success is the number of pros that have come up through the SoBe/Cannondale program and “graduated” to high profile professional squads, including Shonny Vanlandingham, Jimena Florit, Kashi Leuchs, Carmen D'Aluisio, Amber Neben, Kristen Johnson, Kim Smith and Tom Danielson.
Besides the SoBe squad, Cannondale also sponsors a host of high-profile racing teams. The Connecticut-based bike maker also sponsors the #1 World Cup-ranked Saeco pro road racing team, which this year won the Giro d'Italia, the World Road Racing Championships, the Wachovia USPRO Championships in Philadelphia, and Fleche-Wallone. The company also sponsors the Siemens mobile/Cannondale pro mountain bike team, the T-Mobile women's pro road racing team, and numerous regional road and mountain biking teams.
