October 6, 2009 (Montreal, QC) – After months of speculation we received confirmation that Team Volkswagen-Specialized is shutting down. According to a release the team’s former director and coach, Josee Robitaille says, “Not being able to secure a partnership with our principal sponsor, Team Volkswagen-Specialized decided after a nine-year association with Volkswagen, to shut down the engines.

“Without a firm agreement in place with the auto maker by October 1st , the team released its riders. The team had asked its riders to wait until September 30 before beginning negotiations with other teams. This was a difficult decision for me and for the ‘boys’, but we had nine beautiful years with our title sponsor,” added Robitaille.

We reported earlier that in August Robitaille began working as the Road, Track and Paracycling Co-ordinator for the FQSC, and that the future of the Volkswagen-Specialized team was in doubt.