Origins of pro team names.

ben@31

I was thinking about Pro Teams and how unusual some sponsorships are.

AG2R La Mondiale - Pensions?
Airgas Safeway Cycing Team - Distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases
Astana - Named after the capital city of Kazakstan
Bic - Pens, razors.
Bora Argon - Cooking surfaces and extractor fans
La Casera-Bahamontes - A popular Spanish soda drink and the Spanish cyclist Frederico Bahamontes
Columbia - The actual country ?
Etixx-Quick Step - Nutrition and laminate flooring
Faema - Expresso machines
Festina - Watches
FDJ, Lotto Bellosol, Lotto Jumbo, ONCE - N lottery sponsored teams
Giant Alpecin - Fancy hair shampoo
Hincapie Racing Team - The ex-pro George Hincapie
Lampre - Sheet Steel
Mapei - Building materials, paint and glue.
Mercatone Uno - Supermarket
Molteni Arcore - An Italian salami sausage maker near Milan
Orica Green Edge - Mining
Rapha - A sweet wine
VACANSOLEIL-DCM - Luxury camping holidays and quote premium quality soil fertility products unquote
Z - Childrens clothing?

Jelly belly pb maxxis - Candy sweets and tyres.

Can anyone else think of any unusual names and sponsors. There's not many other sports this fun.

specialgueststar

The Americans never understood Banana Falcon. They thought it was something like the Maltese Falcon.

I used to think the sponsors sounded exotic especially Italian teams then I found out Catorama the French team was really just B and Q and they had to wear 'overalls'

And Carrera and those denim bib tights

RichN95.

Katusha - World War 2 rocket launchers.

Although the rocket launchers were named after a folk song so it may go back to that.


Sky - 90s celebrity magazine
Orica - blowing up stuff
Lampre - some sort of fish
Tinkoff - egomania
BMC - it genuinely stands for Bicycle Manufacturing Company. It is that boring.

ben@31

Garmin Chipotle - Sat nav and a smoke-dried jalapeño.

shazzz

Predictor-Lotto - a pregnancy test and a lottery. Grim kit, too...

tailwindhome

Team Wiggins - semi retirement plan for the publicity adverse.

The_Boy

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19701276#p19701276]RichN95[/url] wrote:

BMC - it genuinely stands for Bicycle Manufacturing Company. It is that boring Swiss.

ftfy

salsiccia1

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19701276#p19701276]RichN95[/url] wrote:

Katusha - World War 2 rocket launchers.

Although the rocket launchers were named after a folk song so it may go back to that.


Sky - 90s celebrity magazine
Orica - blowing up stuff
Lampre - some sort of fish
Tinkoff - egomania
BMC - it genuinely stands for Bicycle Manufacturing Company. It is that boring.

Crampeur

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19701276#p19701276]RichN95[/url] wrote:

Lampre - some sort of fish

Some fish :shock:

imatfaal

United States Postal Service - An agency of the federal government of the USA that delivers the mail; let's sponsor a US sporting hero who is fast, the head of the pack, and always delivers - What could possibly go wrong?

HTC-Columbia, Columbia HighRoad etc. (ie Cav's old lot) are named after the Sportwear Manufacturer Columbia not the country.

Colombia (with an O not a U) is the country and is the name behind the current Team Colombia at the Vuelta

ONCE - is a lottery to raise money for the blind Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles

JackPozzi

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19701326#p19701326]shazzz[/url] wrote:

Predictor-Lotto - a pregnancy test and a lottery. Grim kit, too...

Should change colour when it rains...

Monty Dog

Astana - Kazak state-sponsored kleptocracy

thegibdog

I was disappointed when I realised that NFTO stood for Not For The Ordinary. Might as well have called themselves ATR - Arsier Than Rapha.

Mad_Malx

At pro-conti, Roompot: Dutch holiday park with what sounds like very low-budget en-suite facilities.