Stanislav Kozubek and team PSK Whirlpool-Author hard at work on the front.(Image credit: Patrik Pátek)
PSK Whirlpool-Author says financial constraints have forced it to return to Continental status for the 2010 season. Czech website Sport.cz reports that the team had intended to maintain their Professional Continental licence, but had been unable secure the sponsorship necessary to retain the higher status.
PSK have held a Pro Continental licence for the past two seasons. The team's manager Vladimir Vavra said that with no guarantee of participation in top races, the team had been decided to take a step back to the Continental level for 2010.
"We wanted to ride the ProTour races, but we would need to have the biological passport and ask for a wild card. That would cost us 65,000 Euro and there was no certainty that we would get a wild card," he said.
PSK Whirlpool had been home to German riders Danilo Hondo and Patrik Sinkewitz this year, with the two riders responsible for six of the team's nine season wins. However, both riders will move elsewhere for next year; Hondo has inked a deal with Italian ProTour team Lampre, while Sinkewitz is currently looking for a new squad.
The team has retained its title sponsors for next season and Vavra admitted that the team would aim to return to cycling's second division for 2011.
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