According to esmtb.com, the bankruptcy of the Swiss UCI team “Spar” leaves five professional bikers in trouble, including Thomas Litscher.
A few months ago a new sports project was born with the intention of creating a professional MTB team in Switzerland. Behind him was the name of Pirmin Lang, a former Swiss professional cyclist with doping problems. Lang hired 5 professional bikers: 4 Swiss and 1 South African. But their team never came to light and everyone was left hanging with the season now upon us.
All the athletes were contacted by Lang, who offered them a two-year contract to be part of a team that would have a powerful sponsor outside the world of sport: the Spar supermarket chain. Spar is a company already associated with MTB in Switzerland, as the main sponsor of the famous SPAR Swiss Epic. But in this case the reality is that they never wanted to be involved in the project and, despite Lang's insistence, they never gave their approval to the project.
Thomas Litscher has launched a fundraising campaign to try to cover his expenses
The group of 5 riders without a team are Thomas Litscher, Ramona Forchini, Maxime L'Homme, Fabio Püntener and Luke Moir. Now they are all looking for a way to remain professional in 2025. The Swiss federation has offered its help through the support of its structure in the competitions. They have all shared their situation and their search for support on social media. With the teams closed, it is very difficult at this point to find a free place.
Thomas Litscher has gone it alone and launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds needed to participate in the World Cup. The campaign's goal is to raise 15.000 CHF (approximately €15.800), of which almost all has already been raised.
Luke Moir has competed in South Africa but, so far, none of the other participants in the affair have found a team for 2025.
