Cycle Collstrop () was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

UCI Professional Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

cycling team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...

. It was the successor to Unibet.com, which was mainly sponsored by the

online gambling Online gambling (also known as iGaming or iGambling) is any kind of gambling conducted on the internet. This includes virtual poker, casinos, and sports betting. The first online gambling venue opened to the general public was ticketing for th ...

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

Unibet.com and as a continuation of the MrBookmaker.com cycling team. The team rode on the European Continental Circuit, until the beginning of the 2007 season, when they were granted a ProTour licence. In 2008, they were awarded a Professional Continental licence. The new team was led by

Steffen Wesemann Steffen Wesemann (born 11 March 1971) is a Swiss-German former professional road racing cyclist, son of the cyclist Wolfgang Wesemann. He competed in the individual road race at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Wesemann most recently rode for the pr ...

, 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 Eufemiano Fuentes (born 1955) is a Spanish sports doctor who was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case. Biography Fuentes was once an athlete. He then became the team doctor of Team ONCE, Amaya and Kelme. The former Kelme rider Jesú ...

and was suspended by the team.Quesada temporarily suspended
/ref> 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.Quesada to compete again
/ref> 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 The 2008 UCI ProTour is the fourth year of the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI UCI ProTour, ProTour system. Following protracted disagreement between the organisers of the Grand Tours (ASO, RCS and Unipublic) and the UCI, all races organized by ...

. 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 Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

, the inaugural race of the series. The organiser of the French race,

Amaury Sport Organisation The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO and also A.S.O.) is a private company, founded in 1992, that is part of the privately-owned French media group Éditions Philippe Amaury (EPA). ASO organises the Tour de France and other cycling races, as well a ...

, 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 The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a ...

with special jerseys without their sponsor's name.

RCS RCS may refer to: Organizations Arts and entertainment * Radio Corporation of Singapore * Radcliffe Choral Society, a choral ensemble at Harvard University *RCS MediaGroup (Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera), an Italian publishing group *Royal Conserva ...

also snubbed Unibet.com for the

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian Sea, Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of th ...

, explaining that Italian gambling law required a special license for

Unibet Unibet is a sports betting, online casino, bingo and online poker platform. Unibet is a part of Kindred Group–an online gambling operator which consists of 11 brands along with Maria Casino, Stan James, www.vladcazino.ro, 32Red, and iGame. Today ...

. 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 Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

in which

Jeremy Hunt Sir Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2022 to 2024 and Foreign Secretary from 2018 to 2019, having previously served as Secretary of State for Health a ...

was their best rider, finishing in 17th place, ahead of former winners such as

Filippo Pozzato Filippo "Pippo" Pozzato (born 10 September 1981) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2018 for the , , , , , , and two spells with the / teams. A cycling classics, northern classics specialist, Pozza ...

Paolo Bettini Paolo Bettini (born 1 April 1974) is an Italian former champion road racing cyclist, and the former coach of the Italian national cycling team. Considered the best classic cycle races, classics specialist of his generation, and probably one of th ...

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

Major wins

;2007 :

Nationale Sluitingsprijs Nationale Sluitingprijs is a classic cycle races, semi classic European Road bicycle racing, bicycle race held annually in Putte (Kapellen), Belgium. From 2005 to 2017, the race was organized as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Eur ...

(

Gorik Gardeyn Gorik Gardeyn (born 17 March 1980 in Tielt) is a Belgium, Belgian former professional road racing cyclist, who raced for , (over two spells), and , and . Major results ;2001 :1st Stage 4 Danmark Rundt ;2005 :1st Classic Haribo :1st Omloop v ...

) :

Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise Grand Prix Cycliste La Marseillaise, formerly known as the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise, is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in February around the city of Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in south ...

, (

) :Stage 3,

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (currently branded as the Santos Tour Down Under for sponsorship reasons) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia. It is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and UCI Women’s WorldTour ...

(

Baden Cooke Baden Cooke (born 12 October 1978) is an Australian retired professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2000 and 2013. Early life Born in Benalla, Victoria, Cooke began competitive cycling at 11. He completed secondary sc ...

) :Le Samyn, (

Jimmy Casper Jimmy Casper (born 28 May 1978) is a French retired road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1998 and 2012. He won stage 1 of the 2006 Tour de France. Career He has on two occasions finished in last place in the General classifi ...

) :

General classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...

, Record Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, (Jimmy Casper) :

Points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points c ...

, Record Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, (Jimmy Casper) :Stage 1, Record Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, (Jimmy Casper) :

Tour of Ireland The Tour of Ireland ( Irish: Turas na hÉireann, known from 1985 to 1992 as the Nissan Classic) was a bicycle stage race held in August, which ran for 35 editions over a 56-year period. Irish rider Seán Kelly recorded the most wins, four. T ...

, ((Stijn Vandenbergh)) :

Mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had ...

(

Luis Pasamontes Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez (born 2 October 1979 in Cangas del Narcea) is a Spanish former professional racing cyclist, who last rode for the . Major results ;2003 : 8th Trofeo Calvià ;2004 : 1st Memorial Manuel Galera : 5th Trofeo Luis Puig : 9 ...

) :Stage 8,

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse () is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France, which is on the calend ...

(

Rigoberto Urán Rigoberto Urán Urán, Colombian military decorations, ODB (born 26 January 1987) is a Colombian former road racing cyclist who competed as a professional from 2006 to 2024. During his professional career, Urán has taken fifteen victories, inc ...

)

Final roster

External links

References

{{UCI WorldTeams Defunct cycling teams based in the Netherlands Cycling teams based in the Netherlands Cycling teams disestablished in 2008 Former UCI WorldTeams Cycling teams based in Sweden