Future of Radioshack

[Damiano Machiavelli]

In the USA, Leipheimer and Horner are probably heroes...

Nope. We hate Leipheimer just as much as the rest of the world.

Horner is a good guy, even if he does ride for Team Evil.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Their scope is 2 years, which is the period of the new contract with the sponsors. In the USA, Leipheimer and Horner are probably heroes, so you can't blame the team for assigning them as team leaders. Actually, RS does have some good youngsters: Machado, Hermans (leaving next season), Sergent. Kwiatkowski could be a future star.

ROFL @ leipheimer being a hero in usa. you clearly know nothing of american mentality of you don't win silver but you lose gold

 

[kurtinsc]

Their scope is 2 years, which is the period of the new contract with the sponsors. In the USA, Leipheimer and Horner are probably heroes, so you can't blame the team for assigning them as team leaders. Actually, RS does have some good youngsters: Machado, Hermans (leaving next season), Sergent. Kwiatkowski could be a future star.

In the grand scheme of things, nobody knows of a cyclist other then Lance.

To those who follow the tour but not cycling in general, people don't even know who Horner is. They know Leipheimer and Hincapie... but they aren't heroes. They're just the token americans who they hope will win. But until they do... they're not very well supported.

For the more hardcore cycling fans... their opinions reflect pretty much what hardcore cycling fans from other countries think. They may be a bit more forgiving of US riders, but on average they're the same.

 

[janraaskalt]

In the grand scheme of things, nobody knows of a cyclist other then Lance.

To those who follow the tour but not cycling in general, people don't even know who Horner is. They know Leipheimer and Hincapie... but they aren't heroes. They're just the token americans who they hope will win. But until they do... they're not very well supported.

I see. Horner wasn't part of the Lance teams in the Tours he won and did not win Olympic medals, so he is much less known. Anyway, for a sponsor like Radioshack which is primarily focused on the US, having top US cyclists in the team is imperative.

The word "hero" is a personal buzzword for me

 

[therhodeo]

Personally I think they should pick up Jens, Big George, and AARP as a sponsor.

 

[Sem Travões]

Maybe Robert Gesing

 

[rickshaw]

No heros, just personalities.

Globally cycling is a minor sport. In the US it is below baseball, football, basketball, socker, ice hockey, NASCAR, tennis, golf and most things Olympic. It is ABOVE curling, ladies filed hockey and frisbee golf. but only just. There are NO American cycling heros

 

[kurtinsc]

Globally cycling is a minor sport. In the US it is below baseball, football, basketball, socker, ice hockey, NASCAR, tennis, golf and most things Olympic. It is ABOVE curling, ladies filed hockey and frisbee golf. but only just. There are NO American cycling heros

I think you go a little too far with that.

To me, in the american sports concious Cycling = Indy Car Racing. One event captures the national audience (TDF/Indy 500) but that's it. It's ahead of olympic sports like Swimming or downhill skiing... because for them only one event every 4 years captures the national attention... the olympics.

And prior to the doping/legal issues, Lance was an american cycling hero. Not that he deserved to be... but he was. He hosted the ESPY's... he was not a nobody.

Lemond probably should have been... and for a year or two he might have had a shot. But it just didn't happen.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Maybe Robert Gesing

cant see him leaving rabo to be honest.
He is a leader and a priority there. They want to get a dutchman to win le tour, and he is that man for the time being.

 

[Anonymous]

RS did win the Tour de Suisse and Pais-Vasco this year, as well as a nice 2nd in Paris-Nice (and 2nd in Pais-Vasco too).

Those are among the top non-GT stage races.

And in comparison to winning a real GT or a classic, its like having to take your sister to the prom. Maybe they can contest the Tour of Gila again...

 

[gregrowlerson]

I hope for Kloden to ride this years Vuelta and push for a top 5 result. Although there is only one ITT, the fact that it is early in the race can help him more.

As for next year, going to Saxobank would be a good fit, seeing as he has ridden with/for Contador before. Helping AC to another GT victory whilst sneaking a top 20 result would be nice. Then again, perhaps AC will be outed (though I hope not) and Klodi will get to fight Richie Porte for leadership!

 

[warmfuzzies]

I'd be surprised if Radio Shack continued supporting a pro cycling team. I'd attribute their initial commitment to opportunistic marketing - they saw what LA's Tour presence could bring. With its current aging team, I'm less confident Radio Shack will extend the relationship past the current term.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Realistically I don't see any of the tour riders being able to bring a high level to the vuelta.

 

[ElChingon]

I foresee them as the only team with sponsors but no riders

 

[Boeing]

I like Brajkovic, Bouche, and Ben King as a young core

 

[greenedge]

I really hope Busche goes to the Vuelta. I think the RS team should also send: Hermans, Machado ( even though not performing so well in Giro ) Michael K, Horner, Levi, McEwan, Hunter and maybe Nelson O. Probably Rast as well.

 

[iZnoGouD]

It was Machado first GT, he didn't perform that bad
i heard he was sick for a while but he wanted to continue, you could see him getting better in the last week

 

[patrick767]

And in comparison to winning a real GT or a classic, its like having to take your sister to the prom. Maybe they can contest the Tour of Gila again...

If you say so. Personally I'm more impressed with the winners of top non-GT stage races like the Tour de Suisse, Dauphine, and Paris-Nice than I am with the winner of almost any single day race. I don't see why many consider the classics more prestigious, but then I'm not particularly impressed by the sheer number of years a race has been around.

Not that the Monuments aren't great races...

 

[kurtinsc]

And in comparison to winning a real GT or a classic, its like having to take your sister to the prom. Maybe they can contest the Tour of Gila again...

If you mean GT or monument... then you're right. But those other stage races are the next level after that. RVV, MSR, P-R, LBL and Lombardia are bigger then winning the Tour de Suisse or Dauphine Libere. But Amstel Gold? Gent-Wevelgem? San Sebastian? I think not.

There are 3 GT's and 5 monuments. You also have worlds (which are less "team" and more "country"). Winning the big 1-week stage races is in the group after that in my mind. At most you have 8 teams who can have individual wins ahead of winning the big 1-week races.

 

[Aleajactaest]

I'd be surprised if Radio Shack continued supporting a pro cycling team. I'd attribute their initial commitment to opportunistic marketing - they saw what LA's Tour presence could bring. With its current aging team, I'm less confident Radio Shack will extend the relationship past the current term.

Huh? You do know that RS, Trek and Nissan signed on for two more years a couple weeks back, right?

 

[avanti]

RS did win the Tour de Suisse and Pais-Vasco this year, as well as a nice 2nd in Paris-Nice (and 2nd in Pais-Vasco too).

Those are among the top non-GT stage races.

RS also won the Amgen Tour of California - not a biggy by international standards but good for US publicity.

And I'm sure RS will want to win the Tour of Colorado next month.

And Levi L may be a contender for Saturday's TdF TT stage (I've seen very little about his condition).

 

[Dermie]

Not winning a, or the grand tour may not be fail for a sponsors, publicity may be their main aim. Also China is comming on line for the Pro Tour?? an additional 1.3 billion people approximate petential??

 

[gjdavis60]

Perhaps the UCI will come to its senses after this embarrassing performance and award its pro tour licenses to organizations that better represent the pinnacle of cycling. RS needs to go.

 

[Cerberus]

If you mean GT or monument... then you're right. But those other stage races are the next level after that. RVV, MSR, P-R, LBL and Lombardia are bigger then winning the Tour de Suisse or Dauphine Libere. But Amstel Gold? Gent-Wevelgem? San Sebastian? I think not.

There are 3 GT's and 5 monuments. You also have worlds (which are less "team" and more "country"). Winning the big 1-week stage races is in the group after that in my mind. At most you have 8 teams who can have individual wins ahead of winning the big 1-week races.

There might only be 8 "wins" that are bigger (or perhaps there's more, not sure if I agree with you) but there are additional results that are bigger. A GT podium isn't a win, but it's IMO a bigger result than winning a 1-week race. Even a top 5-6 in TdF might be a bigger deal, particularly if you were contending for the podium, or one of the jerseys, or a couple of stage wins. IMO 1-week races is just not good enough for a supposed top level team, you have to be a serious contender for either monuments, GTs or both.

 

[Clemson Cycling]

Perhaps the UCI will come to its senses after this embarrassing performance and award its pro tour licenses to organizations that better represent the pinnacle of cycling. RS needs to go.

What are you smoking because I want some. They are a team decimated by injuries as is obvious if you have been watching the race. They have 22 victories on the year already and are 4th in the CQR team rankings. Ifyou think that they need to go I would hate to know how you feel about Euskaltel - Euskadi and Quick Step.