No more Unibet jerseys in Bessèges

By Hedwig Kröner

The Swedish ProTour team Unibet, whose online gambling sponsor is currently not allowed to advertise in France, had to revert to generic 'question mark' jerseys at the French season opener GP d'Ouverture de la Marseillaise on Tuesday. The following day, the stage race Etoile de Bessèges started, and organiser Roger Fangille let the team start wearing their official jerseys.

"What can we do?," Fangille told L'Equipe. "Several lawyers [representing team Unibet - ed.] came to see us with tons of documents, saying we refuse this team to start. We are just small race organisers, far away from any legal issues."

As the race got underway, French police officers established a report on the matter, and subsequently, on stage two, the team took the start in Nîmes wearing - again - the question mark jerseys. Even though Baden Cooke won the final sprint that day, sponsor Unibet seems to have a serious problem appearing at cycling races in France.

The European Commission has been asked to rule on the case opposing French law and the online gambling company.