Team Sky will continue to ride Pinarello bicycles next season.
Britain’s only WorldTour team has used machines supplied by the Italian manufacturer since the team’s inception three years ago.
Earlier this month, the French sports newspaper, L’Equipe, reported that Team Sky could end its association with Pinarello in favour of a six million Euro transfer to Specialized.
Today, Pinarello and Team Sky released a joint statement confirming that they would continue their agreement into 2013.
Team Sky’s head of operations, Carsten Jeppesen, said: “Team Sky are really happy to have Pinarello as a partner and look forward to building upon what is already a really strong working relationship.
“From a performance perspective we have come a long way in the three years we have been working with Pinarello to date. Their dedication to performance and servicing the team really sets them apart.
“Together we have developed a number of new models which have performed at the highest level and we aim to continue that trend. We already have some exciting plans for next year on the development front. As a team we are always looking to improve and with Pinarello we have the best possible opportunity to do that.”
Pre-Tour favourite, Bradley Wiggins, world road race champion, Mark Cavendish, and their Team Sky colleagues will ride Pinarello Dogma 2 road bikes and Pinarello Graal time trial bikes in this year’s Tour de France, which starts today in Liege.
Pinarello president, Fausto Pinarello, said: “Working with Team Sky has been hugely rewarding for Pinarello in the last three years and we are delighted that the team will again use our bikes during the 2013 season.
“Pinarello and Team Sky have worked closely together to develop our bikes and we’re proud to have played a part in Team Sky becoming the best team in the world. 2012 has been a great season so far but there is so much more to come in the near and long-term future.
“We’re already working hard to ensure Team Sky will again have the best bikes in the peloton in 2013.”
