Team Sunweb (men's team)

src: teamsunweb.com

Team Sunweb (UCI team code: SUN) is a professional German cycling team that participates in UCI World Tour events and, when selected, in UCI Continental Circuits races. The team is managed by Iwan Spekenbrink and uses Giant bicycles.

Video Team Sunweb (men's team)

History

The team has existed since 2005 but Skil previously sponsored a French cycling team, Skil-Sem, from 1984 to 1985, with a similar jersey. Thanks to aggressive strategies during Paris-Nice in 2008 and 2009, the team was awarded a wildcard for the 2009 Tour de France, making it their first appearance in a Grand Tour.

After losing its sponsors at the end of 2011, the team adopted the name "Project 1T4i", standing for "team spirit, inspiration, integrity, improvement and innovation", until a new sponsor was secured. Ahead of the Tour of Flanders on 1 April 2012, the team became Argos-Shimano following the announcement of a three-year naming rights contract with the Argos North Sea Group, an independent oil company based in the Netherlands.

In 2012, the team received their second wildcard invitation to the 2012 Tour de France, along with three French-registered teams: Cofidis, Team Europcar and Saur-Sojasun.

In December 2012 it was announced that the team would compete at the World Tour level for the 2013 season.

In September 2014 German shampoo manufacturer Alpecin announced that they would co-sponsor the team alongside Giant for the 2015 season. In December 2014 Sunweb (a Dutch-owned international tour operator) was announced as a new major sponsor of the team, signing a 2-year deal. Sunweb also sponsor the cyclocross focussed UCI Continental team - Sunweb-Napoleon Games.

On 23 January 2016, six members of the team (John Degenkolb, Warren Barguil, Max Walscheid, Chad Haga, Fredrik Ludvigsson and Ramon Sinkeldam) while in training in Spain were hit by a car which drove into on-coming traffic. All riders were in stable condition. On the first rest day of the 2016 Tour de France, the team announced that Sunweb would become a named sponsor of the team for the 2017 season. In 2017, Team Sunweb won its first Grand Tour: the 2017 Giro d'Italia with Tom Dumoulin. At the 2017 Tour de France, the team won four stages and two major jerseys: Warren Barguil won the Mountains classification and Combativity Award while reaching 10th overall, and Michael Matthews won the Points classification.