A two-year contract extending primary title sponsorship of the Jelly Belly Cycling Team was announced by Jelly Belly Candy Company yesterday. The longest running sponsor in the US pro road cycling peloton, Jelly Belly team members are known for their colorful jerseys and the sports performance jelly bean Sport Beans by Jelly Belly.
The team also announced new sponsors for the 2010-2011 season. Kenda Tires signed on as presenting sponsor for the upcoming season. The Jelly Belly Cycling Team presented by Kenda plans to contest the NRC Calendar in the US and several UCI races overseas. More new sponsors signed for the season and providing equipment are Focus for bicycle frames, Pactimo apparel and DeFeet socks.
With the commitments from Jelly Belly and Kenda Tires, Team Director Danny Van Haute has signed several new riders, most notable Mike Friedman, formerly of Team Garmin-Slipstream. Friendman was on the '08 US Olympic team for track cycling and is expected to bring a depth of experience to Jelly Belly. Anthony Colby is also new and a veteran climber, along with Jonathan Chodroff who is a time trial specialist.