McLaren will apply its Formula 1 know-how to professional cycling - on Wednesday, the company announced a partnership agreement with the UCI World Tour Bahrain Merida team.
McLaren Applied Technologies (MAT) will be the team's 50% partner and will try to help it take the top spot in all cycling races.
Previously, MAT worked with Specialized, a bicycle manufacturer, and assisted the UK team during the 2012 London Olympics. However, in the case of Bahrain Merida, the partnership is going to be much longer, and the collaboration draws on much of McLaren's F1 knowledge.
John Allert, McLaren's head of marketing, said: “Race, technology and human performance are at the core of everything we do at McLaren. Cycling is something that we have been involved in in the past and have been considering new collaboration for some time now.
This is quite naturally in line with our skills and ambitions - this is an ideal partnership with the Bahrain Merida team, which has the right vision and approach to the future.
We will work tirelessly in the near future as we know that the world of professional cycling is home to the best athletes and competitive teams from the world of sports.”
Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who owns the Bahrain team, added: “Our partnership with McLaren is what gives me great national pride and admiration for the future of Bahrain cycling. We want to be the best in the world and an example for others how to compete in this most difficult of elite sports.
This partnership with McLaren will provide us with invaluable experience in getting the best out of cars and athletes, and will help us accelerate our team's journey to the pinnacle of professional cycling.”
McLaren's announcements came just hours after Team Sky, the most successful World Tour team in recent years, announced that 2019 would be its final year.
