Four days before a team competes in the Down Under Classic and six before the start of the Santos Tour Down Under, the Garmin team has announced the addition of Barracuda Networks as a new co-sponsor.
The computer company replaces Cervélo as secondary backer, although the bike company will remain on board as a partner and bike supplier.
Barracuda Networks is based in California and provides security, network performance and data protection solutions.
The team has also launched its 2012 kit, which is a marked departure from the clothing used in 2012. Sporting a new look, blue colouring and the return of argyle, the first glimpse of the new jersey came earlier today when a Garmin advertisement appeared online.
It showed French rider Christophe Le Mevel training at an unspecified location in the mountains, climbing towards the summit while surrounded by snow.
Clothing supplier Castelli later confirmed that the jerseys were essentially the same, albeit with a change to a logo on the chest. That change has turned out to be the addition of Barracuda Networks.
The jersey has blue shoulders and sleeves, blue argyle evocative of mountain peaks across the back pockets, and a black band bearing the Garmin logo across the chest. A large white panel is below this black band and now includes the Barracuda logo.
The rear of the jersey features a large white panel adorned with the Cervélo ‘C’ logo; while it is no longer a co-sponsor, it still gets a large amount of space on the rear plus the shoulders.
New sponsor welcomed on board:
In a Garmin-Barracuda announcement, Slipstream Sports CEO and team directeur sportif Jonathan Vaughters described the new arrangement as an ideal one.
“We are always looking for partners who, like Garmin, share our passion and commitment to the best innovations in technology, and Barracuda Networks is a perfect fit,” he stated.
“The partnership with Barracuda Networks is long-term and the company will also allow Slipstream Sports to continue to pursue other co-title sponsor opportunities.”
He had previously been close to securing Big Mat as a sponsor, but the French company jumped across to the FDJ team. Vaughters said that this was responsible for the demise of the women’s team. It’s not immediately clear if the earlier addition of Barracuda would have kept the women’s squad on board. VeloNation is awaiting a response from the team on this, and also on the duration of the new deal.
Barracuda Networks executive vice president and CMO Michael Perone said that the team’s reputation was an important factor in the deal being sealed. “The incredible sense of teamwork, passion and determination, and commitment to innovation, align perfectly with our philosophy on delivering the most innovative solutions and support to our customers.
“This partnership provides a fantastic platform to share that message with millions of people around the world in a unique and meaningful way.”
The team will begin selling replica clothing from February.
Meanwhile Cervélo CEO Phil White thanked the team for continuing to feature its brand prominently. When the Cervélo partnership was first announced, it was thought that it would come with a considerable injection of cash. However that deal ended up being smaller than initially envisaged.
“We'd like to thank Slipstream for giving us the second team name in 2011 when they had no obligation to do so,” said White. “We're excited that Barracuda Networks is joining the team. It bodes well for the future that the team is attracting new sponsors of this caliber, and Cervélo looks forward to continuing as a key partner and the official bicycle supplier of the team for the next three years.”
The team will feature thirty riders for 2012, including top US Tour de France finisher Tom Danielson, sprinting specialist Tyler Farrar, promising young climber Dan Martin and others. There is a total of eleven new signings.
Team Garmin-Barracuda Pro Men for 2012:
Staying:
Tom Danielson
Tyler Farrar
Murilo Fischer
Heinrich Haussler
Ryder Hesjedal
Andreas Klier
Michel Kreder
Christophe Le-Mevel
Martijn Maaskant
Dan Martin
David Millar
Ramunas Navardauskas
Tom Peterson
Peter Stetina
Andrew Talansky
Christian Vande Velde
Sep Vanmarcke
Johan Vansummeren
David Zabriskie
New signings:
Jack Bauer (Endura Racing)
Thomas Dekker (Chipotle-SugarLabs)
Koldo Fernandez (Euskaltel Euskadi)
Nathan Haas (Genesys Wealth Advisers)
Alex Howes (Chipotle-SugarLabs)
Robbie Hunter (RadioShack)
Raymond Kreder (Chipotle-SugarLabs)
Jacob Rathe (Chipotle-SugarLabs)
Alex Rasmussen (HTC Highroad)
Sebastien Rosseler (RadioShack)
Fabian Wegmann (Leopard Trek)
Directors:
Johnny Weltz
Bingen Fernandez
Eric Van Lancker
Geert Van Bondt
Charly Wegelius
Director of Competition:
Allan Peiper