Cycle Collstrop

Cycle Collstrop (UCI team code: COS) was a Swedish UCI Professional Continental cycling team. It was the successor to Unibet.com, which was mainly sponsored by the online gambling website Unibet.com and as a continuation of the MrBookmaker.com cycling team.

Cycle Collstrop
Team information
UCI codeCOS
RegisteredNetherlands
Founded2001
Disbanded2008
Discipline(s)Road
StatusProfessional Continental
Key personnel
General managerKoen Terryn
Team manager(s)Jacques Hanegraaf
Team name history
2004
2005
2006-2007
2008
MrBookmaker.com - Palmans
MrBookmaker - Sports Tech
Unibet.com
Cycle Collstrop
Jersey

The team rode on the European Continental Circuit, until the beginning of the 2007 season, when they were granted a ProTour licence.[1] In 2008, they were awarded a Professional Continental licence. The new team was led by Steffen Wesemann, and problems previously experienced through having had sponsorship from a betting company were avoided with new sponsorship from a wooden flooring company.

Unibet.com had also been drawn into the Operación Puerto doping investigation. The cyclist Carlos Quesada was named by the Spanish authorities as a patient of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes and was suspended by the team.[2] Although Quesada had been named, he has not yet been formally charged with doping, which led to the management of Unibet.com to lift its suspension of Quesada two weeks after it was imposed.[3] Nevertheless, the team did not pay the Spanish cyclist his salary, which led to a lawsuit, finally resolved with Quesada leaving the team in exchange for a compensation.

The team, whose sponsors have pulled out of cycling, failed to submit its application for renewal by the 20 November 2007 deadline and did not take part in the 2008 UCI ProTour.[4] Many of the team members went to the newly formed team Vacansoleil.

Dispute with race organisers

Despite obtaining a ProTour license for the 2007 season, Unibet.com were not granted entry in Paris–Nice, the inaugural race of the series. The organiser of the French race, Amaury Sport Organisation, argued that French law bans gambling companies (except for Française des Jeux and PMU, as well as some casinos). Nevertheless, Unibet.com took part in the French races GP La Marseillaise and Étoile de Bessèges with special jerseys without their sponsor's name.

RCS also snubbed Unibet.com for the Tirreno–Adriatico, explaining that Italian gambling law required a special license for Unibet. However, as the Unibet.com management pointed out, Unibet did have the license, while Predictor-Lotto's sponsor (the Belgian national lottery) did not, but the Belgian squad was allowed to race on Italian soil. RCS further contradicted themselves when they later invited Unibet.com to Milan–San Remo in which Jeremy Hunt was their best rider, finishing in 17th place, ahead of former winners such as Filippo Pozzato or Paolo Bettini.

However, Unibet.com was not chosen to ride in any of the three Grand Tours.

Major wins
2007
Nationale Sluitingsprijs, (Gorik Gardeyn)
Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise, (Jeremy Hunt)
Stage 3, Tour Down Under, (Baden Cooke)
Le Samyn, (Jimmy Casper)
General classification, Record Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, (Jimmy Casper)
Points classification, Record Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, (Jimmy Casper)
Stage 1, Record Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, (Jimmy Casper)
General classification, Tour of Ireland, ((Stijn Vandenbergh))
Mountains classification, Volta a Catalunya, (Luis Pasamontes)
Stage 8, Tour de Suisse, (Rigoberto Urán)

Final roster
Name Birthdate Nationality Team 2007 Team 2009
Borut Božič8. August 1980 SloveniaTeam L.P.R.Vacansoleil
Tom Criel6. June 1983 BelgiumUnibet.comTopsport Vlaanderen
Bas Giling4. November 1982 NetherlandsWiesenhof-FeltTeam Designa Køkken
Michał Gołaś29. April 1984 PolandUnibet.comAmica Chips-Knauf
Sergey Kolesnikov3. September 1986 RussiaUnibet.comMoscow
David Kopp5. January 1979 GermanyTeam GerolsteinerElite 2
Sergey Lagutin14. January 1981 UzbekistanNavigators Insurance Cycling TeamVacansoleil
Marco Marcato11. February 1984 ItalyTeam L.P.R.Vacansoleil
Lucas Persson16. March 1984 SwedenUnibet.com ContinentalTeam Capinordic
Matthé Pronk1. July 1974 NetherlandsUnibet.comVacansoleil
Sergey Rudaskov6. August 1984 RussiaNeo-proElite 2
Mirko Selvaggi11. February 1985 ItalyNeo-proAmica Chips-Knauf
Raynold Smith20. November 1985 South AfricaEx-Pro (Fondas Imabo 2005)Elite 2
Gil Suray29. August 1984 BelgiumUnibet.comRoubaix - Lille Metropole
Kenny Van Der Schueren20. July 1982 BelgiumUnibet.com ContinentalPalmans-Cras
Troels Vinther24. February 1987 DenmarkUnibet.comTeam Capinordic
Steffen Wesemann11. March 1971  SwitzerlandWiesenhof-FeltRetired
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References
  1. Stokes, Shane (15 December 2006). "Unibet in, Saiz out, ProTour place still possible for Astana". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 15 December 2006.
  2. Quesada temporarily suspended
  3. Quesada to compete again
  4. "uciprotour.com". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
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