Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Juice Plus Cycling Team's Funding Evaporates
Cyclists on the Juice Plus racing team were left high and dry after their official sponsor announced this month that it was suspending the team’s funding, cycling magazine VeloNews reported last week.
Cyclists Laura Van Gilder and Rebecca Larson, two of eight women on the now defunct Juice Plus roster, said that they signed contracts with team director and manager Bill Short in November 2008 after beginning talks with him in October. They each received an e-mail from Short on February 7 notifying them that the team had lost their sponsorship.
“Bill had said that he had this great program set up … he had secured sponsorship from numerous other sponsors, especially Juice Plus, so everything seemed great," Larson explained, but “last Saturday (February 7), he sent an e-mail to us saying that we were all released and the team was no longer,” Van Gilder added.
According to VeloNews, Van Gilder said she wrote Short right after receiving the e-mail about the team folding and asked to speak with him; he texted back that he would call, but she never heard from him. Short has not spoken to Van Gilder or Larson since that e-mail, though there has been e-mail communication. Larson confirmed that she has referred the matter to an attorney.
References
Cyclists Laura Van Gilder and Rebecca Larson, two of eight women on the now defunct Juice Plus roster, said that they signed contracts with team director and manager Bill Short in November 2008 after beginning talks with him in October. They each received an e-mail from Short on February 7 notifying them that the team had lost their sponsorship.
“Bill had said that he had this great program set up … he had secured sponsorship from numerous other sponsors, especially Juice Plus, so everything seemed great," Larson explained, but “last Saturday (February 7), he sent an e-mail to us saying that we were all released and the team was no longer,” Van Gilder added.
According to VeloNews, Van Gilder said she wrote Short right after receiving the e-mail about the team folding and asked to speak with him; he texted back that he would call, but she never heard from him. Short has not spoken to Van Gilder or Larson since that e-mail, though there has been e-mail communication. Larson confirmed that she has referred the matter to an attorney.
References
- Reid, Kathie. Juice Plus Folds in the 11th Hour. VeloNews
http://www.velonews.com/article/88172
# posted by The JPRB Team @ 7:26 PM 
