As reported earlier on VeloNation.com, the Pegasus Sports team is not finished but still fighting to raise enough funding to secure UCI Pro Continental backing. The team confirmed this evening that its main backer for 2011 had walked away from the project, but disputed media reports that it had collapsed.
It insists that there is still a chance of saving the team, and that it is working with several parties to secure the necessary funding to get a UCI Pro Continental team licence.
The press release is as follows:
Pegasus Sports was notified by its principal financial backer that financial support for the Pegasus Sports Professional Cycling project had been retracted. As a result of these changed circumstances, Pegasus Sports was not issued a Professional Continental license by the UCI Licensing Commission as expected on Friday, December 10, 2010. The UCI Licensing Commission has granted the Pegasus Sports' licence application an extension until Wednesday, December 15, 2010.
Pegasus Sports is currently working with a number of parties to secure the necessary funding to guarantee the project's future and ensure the UCI's requirements for a Professional Continental license are met in accordance with the UCI's revised timeline.
"The current reports by some media outlets that the Team has folded are not correct. Pegasus Sports CEO Chris White said. "I have not spoken to any of these media outlets and what is being currently reported is false and most detrimental to a very exciting project. All people associated with the Team are aware of the true circumstances and we continue to work towards meeting the UCI deadline."
As reported earlier, VeloNation has been told by several sources that the backer who has left the team is the American businessman George N. Gillett Jr.
He took a large financial hit in October when he and co-owner Tom Hicks lost possession of Liverpool Football Club. The duo had purchased it in February 2007 for an estimated £435 million, only to see it bought by New England Sports Ventures (NESV) for a sum thought to be around £300 million. This represented a loss for them of approximately £135 million.
Several sources told VeloNation today that team management is speaking to its other backers to try to secure enough funding to continue onwards.