August 08, 2018 – Arthur Silber recently informed members of Silber Pro Cycling’s management that he would cease sponsoring the team at the end of 2018. My first reaction–and it was overwhelming–was to thank him for his magnificent generosity. For those who don’t know, in 2012 Arthur sponsored our club team, Medique p/b Silber Investments. In 2014 that team took out a Continental license from the UCI and Arthur became the title sponsor of what has since been called Silber Pro Cycling. He has been the title sponsor of the team for the last 5 years.

I wanted to thank Arthur personally because he’s a good friend and I want people to understand the broader impact of his generosity. After the demise of Spidertech in 2012, Canada sent only one rider to the U23 World Championships over the following two years. In 2015 Canada qualified to send 4 U23 riders to Worlds, 3 of those selected were from Silber and all 4 now race for Professional Continental teams. Silber Pro Cycling was largely responsible for getting the UCI points at major races to qualify more riders for Worlds.

Here’s another way to say the same thing: Arthur’s sponsorship enabled our team to become the focal point of the country’s development program that begins at the club level with provincial cycling bodies and is overseen by Cycling Canada. Our riders–mostly U23–represented Canada at the World Championships 18 times from 2014-2017. Silber riders have also provided Team Canada with KOM jerseys and animated the World Tour races in Montreal and Quebec each year. The point is that Arthur’s generosity should be understood beyond being the title sponsor of one of Canada’s most successful teams ever. Don’t think of this as simply a Canadian thing: through Silber’s success and the documentation of the daily lives of our riders, the team has raised the visibility of the adventure we call cycling across North America. We are poised to extend our impact.

We’re actively looking for a new title sponsor as we compete at the Tour of Utah before heading to the Colorado Classic. New and loyal support for the team is in place. We recently came to new agreements with a major industry partner and a university research program which are contingent on us being able to field the team in 2019. And we’re excited about the direction of rebranding that is ongoing with potential title and presenting sponsors.

Today we raced stage 1 of the Tour of Utah and I was thinking of recent conversations I have had with people working at the highest level of the sport and industry. In 2016 Silber’s Kris Dahl won Stage 1 on the same finishing circuits in Cedar City. This year, the peloton was climbing 15% grades as it battled for 15 miles through Parowan Canyon toward the ski resort town of Brian Head. It was boiling hot in the thin air and some of our riders were really suffering as they worked their way through thin-treed forests scarred by past fires and pests. Cycling is such an adventure, and it’s what we do.

On behalf of Gord Fraser and all the riders and staff who have worked with a team that wore his name over our hearts, I want to thank Arthur for sharing his love of cycling. He has commitment to the sport with our entire management team, including Michael Wolfe of Mandevco Properties and Harold Stotland of Hamelin Industries. But most of all, I want to thank Arthur for sharing incredible cycling adventures for his many, many friends, and his passion for the sport with the country by giving bike racing a focal point: Silber Pro Cycling. The task now is for others to come forward and leave their marks on the sport.