Taylor Phinney Wins Stage One

The American from BMC won his first Grand Tour stage win the first stage of the 2012 Giro d'Italia. Phinney could hold onto the Maglia Rosa for a few days now and enjoy his first Giro. The Giro will heat up after the first week as the GC contenders will begin to flex their muscles. Until then it'll be a week for the sprinters.

GreenEdge Announces Orica as Major Sponsor

Australian multi national Orica has been announced as the title sponsor for the Greenedge team. The new Greendge jersey with Orica as a sponsor will be unveiled at the upcoming Giro d'Italia. The team will now be known as Orica-Greenedge and Orica have commited to a three partnership. Orica have also commited to sponsoring the Women's Greenedge team which is a bonus for the whole Greenedge project.


From the Orica-Greenedge website explaing this morning's announcement;


"'Team founder and owner, Gerry Ryan said, “We’re extremely proud to be teaming up with Orica in our debut season and onwards. It’s the perfect partner for us and we couldn’t have found a more ambitious and forward thinking company to get onboard.

“We have had a dream start to our sporting goals, winning big races and putting GreenEDGE on the map in professional cycling. This relationship with Orica, and our existing partners, will continue to make GreenEDGE grow – for the athletes, for our fantastic fans and for cycling in general. It’s a significant milestone for us,” Ryan says.

The Orica logo will feature prominently on the team kit at its Grand Tour debut and at this year’s Amgen Tour of California. A whole new visual identity for Orica-GreenEDGE will be launched before the world’s biggest race: the Tour de France at the end of June."

The announcement is sign of how Greenedge have impressed in their first few months within the professional peloton. After numerous good results this season which began at the National titles in January, the sponsorship by Orica is a just reward. 

Orica have come under scrutiny in the past several months for reported leaks from their chemical plants as well as the floating chemical storage reported earlier this week. Orica are not the first contentious sponsor to enter cycling. Nor will they be the last. Their three year commitment however is a good sign for cycling and ensures, in cycling terms, long term security for the team as a whole.