Rapha-Condor bids farewell to sponsor Sharp after three and a half years

Rapha-Condor has confirmed that it is to part company with co-sponsor Sharp at the end of 2012, after a three and a half year partnership. The Japanese electronics giant has been a co-sponsor of WorldTour team Garmin-Sharp since shortly before the Tour de France, and it is this relationship that it is to continue.

“Our sponsorship of Rapha Condor Sharp has allowed us to put the Sharp brand in front of the kind of tech-savvy, design-conscious audience we want to engage with,” said Paul Hide, Managing Director of Sharp, UK. “Rapha and Condor have been the ideal partners to guide us in the sport, and we wish them every success in continuing their project to develop young talent. Sharp’s support of pro-cycling has now moved to UCI World Tour with Garmin Sharp. Like Rapha Condor, this is a team with an unwavering commitment to the best elements of cycling."

Despite the loss of Sharp - and Rapha’s signing up as kit supplier to WorldTour Team Sky from 2013 - the team will continue, with both Rapha and Condor committed to the team whose focus has switch from purely chasing results to the development of young riders.

“Sharp's support over the last three and a half years helped us to develop a successful team and to reach the pinnacle of British domestic racing,” said Rapha CEO Simon Mottram. “We have really enjoyed working with them and although it is sad to part ways, seeing a multi-national company move up to supporting cycling at World Tour level is a very positive step for the sport and very satisfying.”

Condor Cycles’ Grant Young also paid tribute to the outgoing sponsor, which has seen the team rise to become one of the biggest in the British domestic peloton.

“When I look back the Rapha Condor Sharp team achieved some fantastic victories as well as help raise money for Prostate Cancer,” he said. “When Rapha Condor changed direction, Sharp supported our focus of developing young talent and I’m proud of what Sharp and Rapha Condor have accomplished.”