Lidl-Trek (no longer Radioshack-Leopard Trek)

[Angliru]

At the end of the day does it really matter and does anyone care if they still have Liverstrong on there or not

I'm pretty certain the post was meant as sarcasm.

 

[Polish]

So they put up with a co-owner who knows almost nothing about cycling and doesn't want to contribute financially, they have to share a ridiculously long name, they have to give up total and complete control, they have to get used to working with whatever staff is retained from Leopard and whatever riders that can't be let go, all to get one rider who still hasn't proven he can TT or win a GT (but can still only get second even when his main rival is out of the picture), and his family-discount brother?

I thought those guys were all about kicking *** and taking names, not putting up with all sorts of compromise just to get one rider...
]

A ridiculously long name?
Bruyneel already signed up Radioshack-Nissan-Trek pre takeover.
Signed them up before the Tour.
Look at the Radioshack-Nissan-Trek jerseys being worn in the Vuelta.

Just to get one rider?
Bruyneel picked up Frank and Andy and Fabian and others.
And Johan did not have to negotiate with each and everyone of them.
He just negotiated with their Boss.

It was masterful planning and negotiating.
Johan probably received a fat juicy raise as a kicker.
The Maestro.

 

[WorldsGreatest]

this thread should be in the clinic

 

[pastronef]

this thread should be in the clinic

AHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

you won sir!

i don't agree but thank you for the good laugh after all those serious posts

 

[Angliru]

Interesting question. I've not heard how AS goes about training, or if he really gets after it whole hog. But is AS really careless about training? Or does he care less about training? If the latter, he will never beat AC again without divine intervention... even with Johan.

The primary difference between the two from what I understand from reading quotes from directors and managers that have worked with them is that Contador is more professional in his overall approach to his job, while Andy isn't, as evidenced by his history of nights out on the town during races other than those in the last week in April and July. Andy is still riding to get Frank on the podium with him while Contador is riding to annihilate the opposition and entertain cycling fans--in virtually every race he enters.

Plus the training aspect, something that Andy doesn't really care for and thus probably doesn't put his heart into. That includes on his TT bike. A case in point is his decision not to ride the ITT course of the Tour at race speed, meaning riding the Dauphine instead of the Tour de Swiss, since the Dauphine had a stage that was an ITT on the same route. This is evidence of either a rider over-confident in his upcoming chances of Tour victory regardless of the ITT or a rider that simply has people making the wrong decisions for him or even worse letting him make all the wrong decisions for himself without any opposition.

 

[Cobblestoned]

so which website will the use, the livestrong.com one, or the leopard one. hmm..

I guess this is THE MAIN question that will leave all cyclingfans out there sleepless for weeks, night after night.
Personally, I found Leopard's website better. Simple, but good. Perhaps it was just the colours.

No competition for the TeamSkyFans-website of course.
Good night, dude. I love happy ends.

 

[Coz Boogie]

I think the first thing that Johan should do when he walks into that first team meeting is to cut the umbilical cord between Frank and Andy. If you want to ignite a fire under either one of them, then you need to separate them. At times they seem to depend way to much on the other almost to the point of soft-pedaling and waiting for the other one to do something. That could be indicative of poor race tactics, etc. though.

After that you pretty much let them duke it out to see who captains the team at the big races.

late,
Coz

 

[Forunculo]

I think the first thing that Johan should do when he walks into that first team meeting is to cut the umbilical cord between Frank and Andy. If you want to ignite a fire under either one of them, then you need to separate them. At times they seem to depend way to much on the other almost to the point of soft-pedaling and waiting for the other one to do something. That could be indicative of poor race tactics, etc. though.

After that you pretty much let them duke it out to see who captains the team at the big races.

late,
Coz

Then is a risk luxembourg people hit him

 

[Angliru]

If you have a closer look, even Andy is a worldclass TTer right now.

Ummm, no he's not.

 

[Cobblestoned]

Ummm, no he's not.

Yes, he is.
If you don't take this out of context, like you just did it.
And Cav is a worldclass climbing roadracer. Ok, that is....no, it's ok like this.

 

[pastronef]

Ummm, no he's not.

angliru is quite right, if he cared about a his TT abilities, he should have worn a skinsuit during the Colorado TT, not to win or place higher than he did, but to test himself, to see how was he going, to try to put all things together to improve. and by the way, he didn't even go so bad in Vail.

 

[pmcg76]

So it seems that Leopard actually absorbed Radioshack according to Becca.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/becca-confirms-nygaards-departure-from-leopard-trek

The statements coming from both sides seems to conflict each other, trouble already??

 

[Maxiton]

http://gerard.cc/2011/09/06/press-release-of-the-year/

GerardVroomen's view

I'm starting to like Gerard Vroomen.

I wouldn't say Andy can't TT or is a crap-TTer.
Perhaps you should check your standards or expectations.
Not everyone can be superior in both, TT and mountains.
There is only one Contador ( and a clever Evans of course ) , and there was only one Lance.
Saying Andy is a crap-TTer would be like saying that Ullrich was a crap-climber. No.

If you have a closer look, even Andy is a worldclass TTer right now.
If you want to see crap-TTers then have a look down to perhaps Continental-Tour.

Anyway, I will give away my TT-bike if Andy should beat Alberto, Martin, Cancellara one day. He never will. Even the Hog won't manage to improve Andy's TT, so that Alberto would worry.
I think Andy will not be able to significantly improve his TT. He does his best, and Andy's TT is just Andy's TT.

Not absolute top, but better than average. This guy is too young to trash on him anyway and he has some great great palmares so far.

I think we need to define our terms. In my world, "world class" means better than "better than average." With regard to a skill, world class should at the very least mean being competitive with one's peers. If instead we are talking about a skill you can't count on (along with descending), one that consistently causes you to lose the only race you care about, I'm pretty sure we shouldn't call it world class. BTW, what size is your TT bike?

 

[Race Radio]

Someone needs to tell Becca he is not in charge

many in the cycling world have called the changes to Leopard Trek and RadioShack a merger, Becca spoke as if his team has taken over the American squad. He insisted that the team will be Luxembourgish and that Leopard, the company that owns the current Leopard Trek team, will continue as license holders.

"The name Leopard will be kept. The company will continue to be based in Luxembourg and will operate from Luxembourg," Becca said.

Despite the acquisition of general manager Johan Bruyneel and title sponsors RadioShack and Nissan in addition to Trek, Becca said, "I can confirm that there is nothing American in this team, apart from the two sponsors."

Sorry Eleven, I chose to believe Becca on this

 

[Race Radio]

What does Becca mean by this?

"We knew that they would not ask for another license on the 1st of January 2012. Therefore, we first saw the opportunity to take a new sponsor on board and secondly to put together a stronger team.

It certainly sounds like Johan and co. were not going to continue next year regardless of what happen.

 

[Polish]

So it seems that Leopard actually absorbed Radioshack according to Becca.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/becca-confirms-nygaards-departure-from-leopard-trek

The statements coming from both sides seems to conflict each other, trouble already??

Yes, Becca will pay for the license because CSE "wasn't interested in continuing" as license holders.

How much does that license cost BTW.

Bruyneel and CSE played Becca like a fiddle lol.
Genius.
Tailwind makes LeOpard pay.
And LeOpard is happy and boastful about it.
Masterful.

 

[thehog]

What does Becca mean by this?



It certainly sounds like Johan and co. were not going to continue next year regardless of what happen.

I'm smiling as I read this........

Day 2 and no one really seems to know what's going on....

Lance & Hog in one corner jumping up and down saying "our team" and Becca on the other side saying it's mine & I have the licence to prove it.

And poor old Andy & Frank stuck in the middle....

I look forward to Horner chasing down Andy and Kloden chasing down Frank.

What a mess.

I think you were right RR. Hog up to his old tricks again.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

I think we need to define our terms. In my world, "world class" means better than "better than average."

That's pretty much what I was going to say. I would never describe a slightly better than average TTer (which Andy is) as world class (which Andy clearly is not).

Anyway....can I just say that I really don't like this merger/takeover

 

[Race Radio]

I think you were right RR. Hog up to his old tricks again.

A lot of people were right.....and the usual guys were wrong

Johan never had a license for next year. Given his fight with the UCI it is not surprising.

He did not hire riders. Had no intention of fielding a team. Was rescued by Becca. Now he is back to driving the car and the guys in Austin are working on commission selling jerseys to the groupies and counting them as a "Program Expense"

 

[Polish]

What does Becca mean by this?



It certainly sounds like Johan and co. were not going to continue next year regardless of what happen.

Johan inked a 2 year deal with Radioshack-Nissan-Trek before the Tour.
Why would he not want to continue lol?
And then why would he decide to stay after all lol again?

 

[rides like a girl]

The line in the release about nothing American about this team except the two sponsors made me laugh. If I were either sponsors, wouldn't like that sentence...Becca makes it clear nothing American related to this team except the money from the sponsorship...can't figure the benefit for Radio Shack of a team based in Luxembourg. Way to make fans in the US happy!

I saw the headline from cyclingnews on twitter and it got me to open the link...not sure why....am American but not a fan of American cycling teams and not a fan of Radio Shack...

Perhaps the karma of both teams is catching up with them...both were started when majority of riders up and left an existing team for supposed greener pastures! Radio Shack was Astana minus Alberto and Vino. LeOpard was Saxo minus my favorite smooth rider Chris Anker Sorenson.

Let the fighting and misinformation begin! Or continue!

 

[Anonymous]

I guess this is THE MAIN question that will leave all cyclingfans out there sleepless for weeks, night after night.
Personally, I found Leopard's website better. Simple, but good. Perhaps it was just the colours.

No competition for the TeamSkyFans-website of course.
Good night, dude. I love happy ends.

I fully agree, Leopard (despite the non web safe fonts) is better than the Shack site although I like the shacks use of colours. Much easier on the eye.

but yes, TSF is much easier to navigate. We pride ourselves on our simplicity and everything being just one click away.

High praise indeed coming from you.

 

[thehog]

A lot of people were right.....and the usual guys were wrong

Johan never had a license for next year. Given his fight with the UCI it is not surprising.

He did not hire riders. Had no intention of fielding a team. Was rescued by Becca. Now he is back to driving the car and the guys in Austin are working on commission selling jerseys to the groupies and counting them as a "Program Expense"

My concern is it will end up like Astana. When Lance & Hog not only gutted the team but tried to have them shut down.

The other worry is the Shlecks. They seem like nice chaps and I hope they're getting some good advice. But my worry here is Hog will break them & the team. Time will tell.....

 

[MacRoadie]

Johan inked a 2 year deal with Radioshack-Nissan-Trek before the Tour.
Why would he not want to continue lol?
And then why would he decide to stay after all lol again?

Funny, I can't find any links to the so-called sponsorship renewal anywhere but a single Bruyneel quote in a single velonation blurb that seems to have disappeared. No press release by Radio Shack, none by CSE, none from livestrong (which hosts the team website)...

I even went to the Shack's own news page for the weeks of June 17-30, and can't find it (Bruyneel's "announcement" was on June 25th...)

http://www.livestrong.com/teamradioshack/news/16/

Does anyone have a viable link to an actual press release or official announcement?

P.S. Did the same search with "Nissan" and the only result that came up is the same Bruyneel blog entry...

 

[webvan]

Indeed...the velonation thingy is still there though http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/8...ioShack-will-continue-for-two-more-years.aspx

So it seems that Leopard actually absorbed Radioshack according to Becca.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/becca-confirms-nygaards-departure-from-leopard-trek

The statements coming from both sides seems to conflict each other, trouble already??

That Beca guy doesn't strike me as being very diplomatic...did he ever explain why he got into cycling?