Dimension Data have announced that they will ride BMC bikes for the 2019 season, signing a three-year deal with the Swiss manufacturer. BMC bikes will remain in the WorldTour peloton despite the company stepping down as primary sponsor of its own team, BMC Racing.
After the passing of BMC founder Andy Rihs earlier this year, speculation as to whether BMC would continue its sponsorship of professional cycling has circled.
It was announced earlier this month that the current Continuum Sports team, running under the name of BMC Racing, would change its title sponsor to Polish shoe company CCC as of the 2019 season.
In this announcement, it was confirmed that the team would also be parting ways with the bike company.
However, the Swiss bike brand will now move across to Dimension Data as their current partnership with Canadian brand Cervelo ends.
In a release, CEO of BMC David Zurcher commented on the memories of its previous sponsorship and its future with Dimension Data.
'We are very thankful to Continuum Sports and all the riders for the success we have achieved together as the "BMC Racing Team".
'BMC’s DNA is racing; this was driving Andy and is driving us today. We want to ensure Andy’s legacy and that of BMC continues in a sustainable and progressive manner, in line with today’s demands,' said Zurcher.
'Joining Team Dimension Data is much greater than purely "racing", we will bring our credibility, building the fastest bikes in the world and combine our visions, being stronger together.'
Although its partnership with Dimension Data has come to an end, the future of Cervelo in the professional peloton seems secured through Team Sunweb.
It is rumoured that the German WorldTour team are ending their partnership with Giant in order to make way for Cervelo as co-sponsor, with the team set to be named Sunweb-Cervelo.
As for the new CCC team, it is yet to be confirmed which bike brand they will be using as of 2019, however with Giant losing its partnership with Sunweb, the Taiwanese brand could be a perfect fit.