Professional cycling is an infamously cash-strapped sport. I think I read recently that one superstar basketballer in the US could very easily fund an entire World Tour team and have plenty left over. Even so, cycling teams are constantly looking for money and team names invariably change nearly every year…with some exceptions, including these guys.
And cycling has always had oddball sponsors because of this, including an online baby shop called ‘Baby-Dump’.
This year a few teams have added or changed sponsors. DSM has added the name Firmenich because it bought this old fragrance company, it seems. PostNL is also a sponsor this year – The Netherlands’ mailman.
Back to odd sponsors, everyone’s favorite caffeinated shampoo is still headlining MvP’s denim jersey.
And then of course you have an intriguing list of entire nations who have taken a keen interest in pro cycling – Bahrain (nominally constitutional monarchy), UAE (federation of 7 monarchies) and Astana (Kazakh stated-owned companies own this one: Freedom House rates Kazakhstan as ‘Not Free’.
Other sponsors include kitchen equipment suppliers (Bora), window and door manufacturer (Deceuninck), floors (Quick Step), supermarkets (Lidl, Intermarché) and national lotteries (FDJ).
My personal favorite for 2024 is Lease-a-Bike, which joins main sponsor Visma (business software), finally a sponsor that makes sense! Hopefully they have enough money to come back next year.
The Vicious Cycle 
Gerry, great post. Given the new 44/5 colors and the dynamics of changing jersey colors in the world tour, I briefly wondered if the more prominent addition of orange to 44/5’s threads was a nod to Home Depot, Fanta soft drinks, or Reese’s peanut butter cups. I have come to believe it’s just a great sartorial choice. Looking forward to my own copy…..the search for orange sox begins now. Thankfully, I can match nearly anything to my new white bike!!
Eric, the orange was always more a nod to the old Gulf Livery racing colors…even if we’re not fast we can look it! Admittedly, you’d have to have a pretty good imagination to see the connection on our newest jersey version.