Gstaad Say Farewell to Scott DH Team

Dec 14, 2016
by Pinkbike Staff  
You can see the rain starting to fall in the background as Brendan Fairclough plows down the dusty final chute.

Today marks the end of an era as a 4-year partnership with the Swiss resort of Gstaad comes to an end. We have enjoyed an incredible journey with Gstaad as the team's main sponsor, celebrated huge success stories and championed the sport around the globe.

In Gstaad's official press release they wrote "Gstaad has been a partner with the Downhill Team since January 2013. In the past four years, we have jointly celebrated several top ten places in the World Cup. Working together with the team has exposed Gstaad to a very wide audience, especially via their online media."

Whilst the decision to end a partnership with the team was not easy. Despite the value of the partnership, Gstaad tourism felt it was time to 'refocus' following a wide range of circumstances. Martin Bachofner, the Director of Gstaad Saanenland Tourism explained, "As always, the decision in such situations is never easy to make and is fraught with emotion, but sometimes it is simply time to refocus."

Today we welcomed Gstaad Scott s Neko Mullaly back to the gnar of the WC circuit.

Looking back, team manager Claudio Caluori had this to say: "What a time we had during our four years with Gstaad! We certainly had the most radical of training camps. We rode over trails and powder snow, we milked cows, we made cheese, we played the alphorn, and we scaled some very scary mountains too. And, most of all, we met new friends! I thank everyone involved for everything that Gstaad has made possible for us. And now, after our four-year partnership, we can hardly wait to return and explore new parts of the region with our friends."

We want to take this opportunity to thank the entire team at Gstaad for their support over the last 4 years. It has been an incredible partnership and we are proud of what we have been able to achieve together.

Brendan Fairclough will be the first to tell you he doesn t love smashing rocks all weekend but if timed training means anything it seems he s getting on just fine.

For the official press release from Gstaad Saanenland Tourism please visit www.gstaad-scott.com

With 2017 just around the corner, the excitement is building and we can't wait. Stay tuned for more updates from the team in the new year.

Thanks for all the support - Gstaad, Scott, Fox, Velosolutions, Syncros, Schwalbe, Shimano, e*thirteen & Deity.

Neko taking stock of the new open root section that caused more than a few problems on first runs.

MENTIONS: @SCOTT-Sports / @foxracingshox / @velosolutions / @schwalbe / @shimano / @ethirteen-components / @deityusa

With a title sponsor no longer part of the team, what does this mean for Brendan and Neko?

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92 Comments
  • 127 2
 Oskar Blues factory team!
  • 23 1
 REEB DH bike?
  • 1 13
flag EastCoastDHer (Dec 15, 2016 at 9:29) (Below Threshold)
 @adrennan: Perhaps, they make great doors so as long as they don't end up in a jamb....
  • 6 1
 @EastCoastDHer: not sure what you are talking about. REEB is Oskar Blue's bike brand
  • 27 5
 put Fairclough with Brosnan and make a dream team!
  • 15 1
 i buy a metric ton of their beer! They should be able to support the whole field of WC dh'ers lol
  • 8 0
 @cptstoney: same here my man. Dale's has gotten me through more long bike rides and backpacking trips than red bull could ever hope.
  • 4 0
 @adrennan: beerito in the summer and death by coconut in the winter. perfect pre,during, and post ride adult refreshments!
  • 6 1
 @GH29orBust: they used to be on specialised together.
  • 2 4
 @GH29orBust: could happen again.
  • 2 0
 I just had a Mama's Little Yella Pils for lunch!
  • 2 0
 velosolutions/scott - c'mon, claudio!
  • 1 0
 @GH29orBust: Add Sam Hill to that as well.
  • 103 4
 Good call Gstaad. I never even knew that it was a resort, I always thought that the name Gstaad was a pretentious attempt to make the Scott DH team sound like a tour de France team.
  • 52 1
 I thought Gstaad was a bank..
  • 24 1
 @simooo: ^this, thought it was a fancy euro bank americans hide money in.
  • 46 0
 I thought they just misspelt bicycle
  • 6 0
 Dead good point - me neither! I think think they could've got more out of this partnership through more focused advertising
  • 4 0
 Yeah you're right I never had any idea that it was a resort is the Swiss Alps, I always wondered what the Gstaad stood for though.
  • 20 1
 I think that is why they cut their sponsorship
  • 1 0
 @cptstoney: lol
  • 6 0
 I thought it was weird considering they don't have any mtb stuff in the resort
  • 31 0
 Funny how in four years this is the first time most of us are hearing that Gstaad is a resort!?
  • 3 0
 @sam264: It is for skiing. I guess like a lot of ski resorts it's been trying to expand the off-season business beyond just hiking.
  • 33 0
 Gotta love the irony in more people finding out about them because they stopped sponsoring, than in the 4 years they were paying
  • 5 0
 @drfunsocks: Yep we're making Claudio look bad! AK LIKE YA KNOW!
  • 2 0
 @drfunsocks: That is so funny and sad at the same time...
  • 3 2
 Quick google search would have answered your questions. I had no idea what it was when I first heard of them. Quickly figured it out.
  • 2 0
 I thought it was a beer
  • 4 0
 Living in Switzerland I never heard anything mountain bike related from Gstaad resort. Always wondered about their engagement.
  • 3 1
 @WolfStoneD: meh, too lazy
  • 53 0
 Team Velosolutions Scott.
  • 4 0
 Yup. Nailed it.
  • 15 0
 If it means we get a shedload of Brendog pumptrack footage that's fine by me
  • 1 0
 Hell yeah
  • 38 3
 GREAT SCOTT!!!
  • 22 4
 Make Gstaad great again
  • 7 1
 This is heavy!
  • 27 1
 All Gstaad things must come to an end.
  • 6 2
 even in Scottland
  • 24 1
 hopefully they can become a scott factory team, also i take it the "refocus" means that they've had to cut their budget, and the DH team was the first to go.
  • 9 0
 Could be the case but there is also a good chance they just wants to focus their marketing money elsewhere, not just making cuts The only reason anyone sponsors is to increase awareness and sales of their own products. For bike companies its pretty straightforward, they sponsor teams and riders and events etc. Gstaad is a resort town. Sponsoring a race team is a little out of the ordinary. So perhaps they just felt that putting money into a DH team wasn't providing any returns and will put the money elsewhere.
  • 22 0
 Ah yes. The never ending team news while we wait for the dh season to start again
  • 13 0
 Bailey/Windrock/OskarBlues team?
  • 11 0
 Team Gutbomb-Beerfart
  • 6 0
 @bizutch: Beerbong-Beefheart
  • 10 0
 A first person who comes up with a Gstaad pun gets a free Gambler. Or gambles for free... whatever. Anyone?
  • 12 3
 I always figured Gstaad was a bank or something
  • 8 1
 Thought they made Swiss time pieces or something??
  • 2 0
 No... its not as weird as paypal CRC where it really sounds so noob
  • 4 0
 I'm sure I'll get neg. propped, but the one thing with pro road racing is that the media / commentators seem to make a point to include who and what with sponsors. A lot has to do with the immense amount of down time to fill, but it would go a long way to attract outside sponsors if Warner would mention stuff like this, or Pinkbike put it more frequently in race reports.
Attracting outside sponsors helps everyone involved in the sport.
(certainly NOT singling out Warner, just an example - he is phenomonal at calling the races)
  • 5 0
 Scott have just become a title sponsor on the road so it's likely they are doing the same for the mtb side
  • 1 0
 Why not ask for the partnership with the resort of champery, we know well that they are very involved with scott for many years.
we hope Smile
  • 1 0
 Hey if they are worried now because they are down a rider they can have me.
  • 6 3
 Oh my Gstaad
  • 2 0
 Should do a DH Draft for the 90% of not top 10 tier riders
  • 1 0
 Coastal Crew on ebikes, Troy left Spec... is it means that Scott want to build some ebikes too?
  • 1 0
 The end is near. www.scott-sports.com/gb/en/products/249732006/SCOTT-E-Spark-700-Plus-Tuned-Bike
  • 1 0
 We need more teams not less. Teams dropping sponsorship and Devinici dropping a DH team all together is not a good sign.
  • 1 1
 DH teams in general are not a good investment. How many DH bikes does a bike company actually sell? A big company like Specialized or Trek might sell 500 DH bikes a year, but they'll sell a few thousand AM and Trail bikes.
It costs a lot of money flying teams all around the world and if the cost to race is more than what the return on investment is, it really makes no sense to sponsor a team
  • 2 0
 @IamSeaDevil: It that's true, that doesn't seem sustainable. That along with the UCI charging $1M for a race we are lucky there are even 6 or 7 races per yer. I wonder what the solution is to get more money in the sport?
  • 2 1
 Where's everyone going? It's going to be an interesting 2017 Season!
  • 1 0
 It doesn't say that the team is dissolving, just that Gstaad is not the sponsor anymore. Hopefully they already have one lined up.
  • 1 0
 I read Claudio's quote in his voice haha
  • 1 1
 on the last photo is the best of the best Big Grin D
  • 1 2
 AND BANG Scott Gambler made Swiss roll
  • 1 3
 It's a bad news to fans who like Brendog riding the gambler, the beast-like DH MTB.
  • 5 8
 Dang. Will I be the first to say,







Whistler sponsorships?
  • 21 0
 In case there is a world cup DH fan, that hasn't heard of Whistler? Sounds reasonable!
  • 9 0
 @Gweggy: got a link? I'd like to learn more.
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