A “new” team is born
Timo Bracht and Normann Stadler are now team mates under the umbrella of the Commerzbank team, and so are all the other athletes who previously competed in green colors for the Dresdner Kleinwort team.
Last year in Germany, the Commerzbank bought the Dresdner Bank, parent company of Dresdner Kleinwort, and many questions were on the minds of triathlon fans in Europe and other parts of the world. What would that mean for the various sponsorship relationships that were already in place? Would that possibly cause the Dresdner Kleinwort team to go away?
Many of these concerns were answered today when the new Commerzbank Team was introduced. According to the team press release, as part of the integration of Dresdner Bank, Commerzbank will continue with Dresdner Kleinwort’s commitment to triathlon. The new eight-man Commerzbank Triathlon Team will include Germany’s top triathletes Timo Bracht and Normann Stadler. The bank will continue to provide its support to the team until 2011.
"In previous years I have gone my own way and always continued to develop athletically, win major competitions and fulfill many of my dreams. But joining the Commerzbank Triathlon Team offers exciting, new challenges, a new environment and fresh opportunities. I really couldn’t ask for more." said Timo Bracht and added "We benefit from professional management and have the freedom to make individual decisions. I believe the formation of teams is the way of the future for triathlon."
The proud new dad Normann Stadler was also quite positive about his new team mate: “Timo is a great asset to the team, on an athletic level as well as on a personal level.”
The Dresdner Kleinwort team has been very successful recently and Marino Vanhoenacker, Mathias Hecht, Jan Raphael, Maik Twelsiek, Markus Fachbach and Scott Neyedli all already qualified for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, plus Normann Stadler as a previous champion has his ticket stamped for life. Timo Bracht is the only one still looking for a slot and he will compete in the European Ironman Championship in Frankfurt on 5th July, 2009 to get it done.
The Commerzbank team presents itself to the press.
