One of the world’s most visited pornsites has unveiled its ambition for greater publicity by opting to sponsor an Italian mountain bike team for the 2016 season.

Promosport Racing will benefit from the xHamster sponsorship – each looking to “promote and develop cycling as the new healthy way of lifestyle.”

An xHamster spokesperson said: "I tend to believe that cycling, as xHamster, is all about passion, commitment and a great deal of teamwork.

“It`s about accepting the challenges and exceeding the limits, while working in a team of professionals whom you can undoubtedly trust. That`s the reason why we stand behind the sponsorship of Promosport Racing team.”

Federico Silvi, Promosport Racing team`s vice president, said: "It takes a viable brand for a viable team, and we couldn`t expect a better adding for season 2016! We are incredibly excited to have xHamster among our main sponsors.”

The obscure move sees the pornsite look to break into the mainstream and generate additional reach with the public to help it contend with PornHub for the number one most visited pornography website in the world.

The Drum touched down with the xHamster - read about why the company's venturing into sports marketing here.

The company has upped its marketing on many levels:

It has released a beer.

It launched a crowdsourced rebrand after taking entries from users.

Making a Murderer’s Brendan Dassey was to receive a trip to Wrestlemania is he managed to walk free from prison.

It also banned porn in North Carolina after the bathroom bill flared up.