Yeah, I was assuming that it varied quite a bit from team to team. I was just curious what a typical contract looked like between team and supplier. IE: "You get so many bikes of such and such a configuration, your riders must ride only our bikes (or at least bikes with our brand) during competition and training, we get them back at the end of the season", and so on.
I'm sure the stars get the pick of the litter and all the latest goodies, custom paint jobs, extra bikes, etc. I wonder how big a contrast the arrangement is between the deals the pro tour teams get and continental teams in Europe and the US. (and Asia/Oceania too since this is an Aussie based web site
) All told, just to pro tour teams, let alone the smaller teams, you've got to be talking a
lot of bikes that a major and even smaller bike manufacturer gives away in sponsorship every year. you have to wonder what portion of their marketing budget goes to that.