ScottM
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iBazinga!
Tailwind Sports, which the real owner of the Team Discovery Pro-Cylcing Team, today announced that they are pulling out of cycling and will let the team fold at the end of the year. They say this is not because they have not signed a sponsor for next year. They claim they had a verbal deal but had not inked yet. Instead they gave a bunch of reasons that pointed towards the doping issue, ASO (owner of the Tour d'France) changing the rules for foreign teams next year, and the UCI for its failure to abide by its own rules.
I will be sad to see what has been the most successful cycling team fold. Out of the last 10 years they have won 9 Tour d'France, the Giro d'Italia, Vuelta Espana and a host of other races. Prior to being Team Discovery the were US Postal and before that Team Motorola. When they were Team Motorola I got to meet several of the riders including Andy Hampston, Lance Armstrong, and a few others.
Without Team Discovery there is not a single American UCO team. However, Slipstream, which is a continental team has added some high quality riders including three from UCI teams. Dave Millar and Dave Zabrienski are joining the team. Slipstream hopes to be an invited team to the Tour d'France maybe by next year and will be racing as an invitee to a couple of other UCI events. So there is still a chance that America will dominate in the big leagues of pro-cycling. For most Americans the last chance for a while to see a UCI team race will be next month at the tour of Missouri. Levi Liepheimer will be racing as well as come other big names.
http://velonews.com/race/int/articles/13074.0.html
http://velonews.com/race/int/articles/13071.0.html
I will be sad to see what has been the most successful cycling team fold. Out of the last 10 years they have won 9 Tour d'France, the Giro d'Italia, Vuelta Espana and a host of other races. Prior to being Team Discovery the were US Postal and before that Team Motorola. When they were Team Motorola I got to meet several of the riders including Andy Hampston, Lance Armstrong, and a few others.
Without Team Discovery there is not a single American UCO team. However, Slipstream, which is a continental team has added some high quality riders including three from UCI teams. Dave Millar and Dave Zabrienski are joining the team. Slipstream hopes to be an invited team to the Tour d'France maybe by next year and will be racing as an invitee to a couple of other UCI events. So there is still a chance that America will dominate in the big leagues of pro-cycling. For most Americans the last chance for a while to see a UCI team race will be next month at the tour of Missouri. Levi Liepheimer will be racing as well as come other big names.
http://velonews.com/race/int/articles/13074.0.html
http://velonews.com/race/int/articles/13071.0.html