Team Sunweb have confirmed the rumour that they will be switching from Giant to Cervelo bikes for the 2019 season onwards. The new deal will see the Canadian brand supply bikes to the men's and women's WorldTour teams as well as the Sunweb Development Squad.
Confirmed in a press release, the German-registered squad will move across to Cervelo bikes as of 1st January 2019 in what becomes the final piece of the bike sponsor jigsaw puzzle.
Cervelo formerly supplied Dimension Data but has found itself replaced by Swiss brand BMC. This comes after BMC ended its long-standing association with its eponymous WorldTour team. That team will now be owned by and named after Polish shoe brand and former ProContinental team CCC.
Along with this change, CCC also acquired Giant bikes from Team Sunweb meaning the Taiwanese brand will still have representation in the WorldTour.
The announcement of the partnership with Team Sunweb also coincides with Cervelo's first new aero road bike launch in almost half a decade as the Canadian brand today released its brand new S5.
This new aero road bike is an update of its original S5 which was launched back in 2014.
When released, the original Cervelo S5 was criticised as already being outdated, with some of its WorldTour riders including Mark Cavendish being highly critical of the frame.
However, with a new look V-shaped stem and disc brakes, Cervelo will be hoping to quash any doubters with victories for its new riders Tom Dumoulin, Coryn Rivera and newly-crowned U23 World Champion Alex Hirschi.
Richard Kesskamp of Cervelo commented on the sponsorship, stating that its connection to one of the world's leading men's and women's teams should further its development.
'The team is world-class and active in a wide range of fields and disciplines with men, women and U23 programmes – competitive in the one-day races, time trials, sprints and Grand Tours, which requires very specific equipment to be able to make the difference over the competition,' Kesskamp said.
'It challenges us to raise the bar even further in developing and delivering new and state-of-art technologies.'
Team Sunweb CEO Iwan Spekenbrink also gave high praise for this new partnership, labelling Cervelo as one of the most innovative brands on the market.
'We’re thrilled to welcome one of the most high-tech brands in the industry to our team,' Spekenbrink said.
'Having the resources and knowledge at hand to make our equipment lighter, better and faster will make the difference. Time trials and road races are sometimes won or lost by a fraction of a second, which is a confirmation to us that these efforts do pay off.
'We’ve a shared DNA to keep pushing technology forward and innovation is key to both our organisations, which makes for the perfect fit.
'Behind the scenes Cervélo has been working hard on the new S5 race bikes revealed today, this emphasises their commitment to helping us and we’re already looking forward to kicking off the 2019 season.'