Pro Team Luxembourg

[theyoungest]

The team listed so far didn't really strike me as being that young ?_?

Yeah, that's BS. Liquigas and Rabo are probably younger on average, even if you leave Voigt and O'Grady out of the equation. But that's the golden rule of marketing: it doesn't have to be true.

 

[Christian]

I think "Leopard" will be the name for the company which will run proffesional cycling team.. I think it will be only license holder like Riis Cycling, High Road Sports, Abarca Sports or Slipstream Sports.

Yeah that's probably it, "Leopard SA" was the company who issued the press release on the Mercedes-Benz deal. It's the Luxembourg equivalent of Riis Cycling

 

[Moondance]

Leopard.... Dear God, the jerseys could be horrendous.

 

[The Sheep]

Leopard.... Dear God, the jerseys could be horrendous.

Cipollini will design them

 

[ingsve]

Well, if they are going to use a non-sponsor name for the team then using the Leopard name is at least better than some generic Pro Team Luxembourg name.

 

[luckyboy]

Team leopard?

Nygaard has twitted:

Interesting stuff.

Anyone know what mountain that is btw? - http://www.leopard.lu/images/background.jpg

 

[Moondance]

Interesting stuff.

Anyone know what mountain that is btw? - http://www.leopard.lu/images/background.jpg

Descent from the Colombiere to Mulaterie-Chinaillon maybe? Its just a guess... Its maybe a bit too winding to be the Colombiere actually.

 

[ultimobici]

Too true! Don't know of any Luxembourgish beer, but since half the management are Danish, maybe Carlsberg could be a goer!

Otherwise, what else is there? You know those Lonely Planet guide books that tell you what a country is famous for? Luxembourg is famous for one thing - banking. Boring! Still, there's a bit of money in that.

Only problem is Carlsberg ain't really beer, it's more like gnat's pi$$.

 

[CheeseHead]

Interesting stuff.

Anyone know what mountain that is btw? - http://www.leopard.lu/images/background.jpg

St.Gotthard.

The pic on the lux site is mirrored tho. See http://aukadia.net/alps/pix/sg.jpg

 

[luckyboy]

Ah cool, thanks

 

[Christian]

Nygaard aiming to make history by putting both Schlecks on the Tour de France podium:

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/6...th-Schlecks-on-the-Tour-de-France-podium.aspx

They'll need a lot of luck but if they're ever gonna make it, I guess it'll have to be next year. They probably will never get a better chance than that. They were already pretty close back in 2009, but Armstrong was really strong on Ventoux and Wiggins managed to hold on.

I think it would have been possible this year, Fränk was in the form of his life, some even saw him stronger than Andy.

Hope they're gonna make it!

 

[Ruxen1989]

Nygaard aiming to make history by putting both Schlecks on the Tour de France podium:

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/6...th-Schlecks-on-the-Tour-de-France-podium.aspx

They'll need a lot of luck but if they're ever gonna make it, I guess it'll have to be next year. They probably will never get a better chance than that. They were already pretty close back in 2009, but Armstrong was really strong on Ventoux and Wiggins managed to hold on.

I think it would have been possible this year, Fränk was in the form of his life, some even saw him stronger than Andy.

Hope they're gonna make it!

They really need a lot of luck and then Frank Schleck needs a season without too many crashes. But it's not unrealistic. Franks minus compared to Nibali and others fighting for the third spot is his ITT but I think Frank is a better climber. He is almost on Andy and Contadors level as a climber if not on their level. We saw that in 2009.

 

[Christian]

Maxime Monfort officially confirms having signed a 3-year contract with Team Luxembourg.

He will be a key helper in the hilly races, as well as the Tour de France.

Here is his official statement:

C’est maintenant officiel! Je suis très fier de vous annoncer que j’ai signé un contrat de 3 ans avec la nouvelle équipe luxembourgeoise.
C’est un nouveau challenge pour moi. J’ai appris énormément ces deux dernières saisons aux côtés de très grands coureurs mais j’estimais qu’il fallait réorienter quelque peu ma carrière. J’ai beaucoup apprécié travailler pour les plus grands sprinters du monde mais je pense que mon travail d’équipier sera bien plus efficace sur des parcours plus vallonnés. La saison 2011 sera remplie d’objectifs différents pour moi. D’une part je serai un coureur protégé sur différentes courses à étapes du calendrier World Tour. Et d’autre part je jouerai le rôle d’équipier, notamment pour les classiques wallonnes mais aussi et surtout pour le Tour de France. A 9 mois de l’échéance de juillet, je suis déjà très motivé à l’idée de faire partie de l’équipe de vainqueurs potentiels de la Grande Boucle.

http://www.maxime-monfort.be/v2/

 

[Ruxen1989]

Wouter Weyland and Dominic Klemme have been confirmed too.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

likely squad so far ? ---
Might be missing a couple, or one or two not confirmed..

• Daniele Bennati (Liquigas-Doimo)
• Brice Feillu (Vacansoleil)
• Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank)
• Linus Gerdemann (Milram)
• Dominic Klemme (Saxo Bank)
• Anders Lund (Saxo Bank)
• Maxime Monfort (HTC-Columbia)
• Giacomo Nizzolo (U.C. Trevigiani Dynamon Bottoli)
• Stuart O´Grady (Saxo Bank)
• Bruno Pires (Barbot-Siper)
• Joost Posthuma (Rabobank)
• Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)
• Fränk Schleck (Saxo Bank)
• Tom Stamsnijder (Rabobank)
• Davide Viganò (Sky)
• Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank)
• Robert Wagner (Skil-Shimano)
• Fabian Wegmann (Milram)
• Wouter Weylandt (Quick Step)

http://06.live-radsport.ch/details_...ml?PHPSESSID=7a82807b523a99a2cdebf306e12762de

looking pretty solid anyway. Look like a stronger version of saxo. Especially if the get spartacus.

 

[Christian]

likely squad so far ? ---
Might be missing a couple, or one or two not confirmed..

• Daniele Bennati (Liquigas-Doimo)
• Brice Feillu (Vacansoleil)
• Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank)
• Linus Gerdemann (Milram)
• Dominic Klemme (Saxo Bank)
• Anders Lund (Saxo Bank)
• Maxime Monfort (HTC-Columbia)
• Giacomo Nizzolo (U.C. Trevigiani Dynamon Bottoli)
• Stuart O´Grady (Saxo Bank)
• Bruno Pires (Barbot-Siper)
• Joost Posthuma (Rabobank)
• Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)
• Fränk Schleck (Saxo Bank)
• Tom Stamsnijder (Rabobank)
• Davide Viganò (Sky)
• Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank)
• Robert Wagner (Skil-Shimano)
• Fabian Wegmann (Milram)
• Wouter Weylandt (Quick Step)

http://06.live-radsport.ch/details_...ml?PHPSESSID=7a82807b523a99a2cdebf306e12762de

looking pretty solid anyway. Look like a stronger version of saxo. Especially if the get spartacus.

I counted 19 in your list, which means there should at least be 6 riders of which we have no clue. Maybe they will be neo-pro's or more unknown riders such as Pires.

Also some people were wondering whether "Leopard" would be the name of the team. Brian Nygaard has now denied this:

Der Name des neuen Teams um die Gebrüder Schleck wird jedoch nicht nach der Großkatze benannt.

„Leopard true racing ist die Bezeichnung des Projekts hinter unserer neuen Truppe. Der Name dieser Struktur ist allerdings nicht mit dem des eigentlichen Teams zu verwechseln. Beides sind grundverschiedene Dinge. Ich kann Ihnen hundertprozentig versichern, dass der Teamname für 2011 nicht Leopard true racing sein wird“, erklärte Brian Nygaard gegenüber dem Luxemburger Wort.

http://www.wort.lu/wort/web/sport/a...eue-internetseite-fuer-das-team-luxemburg.php

"The name of the new Team around the brothers Schleck will not be the same as the wild cat's.

"Leopard true racing is the name for the project behind our team. The name of this structire should not be taken for the name of the team itself. The two are completely different things. I can assure you 100% that the name of the Team for 2011 will not be Leopard true racing", explained Nygaard to Luxemburger Wort.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Martin Mortensen is also a likely signing apparently.

 

[LarsAU]

Apparently the team name will be...

Leopard True Racing

Source is a twitter from Brian Nygaard.

Google translate of Danish article
http://translate.google.com/transla...w.sporten.dk/cykling/schleck-i-leopardprikker

 

[bjaelkesex]

Apparently the team name will be...

Leopard True Racing

Source is a twitter from Brian Nygaard.

Google translate of Danish article
http://translate.google.com/transla...w.sporten.dk/cykling/schleck-i-leopardprikker

they are quoting an old article from Feltet, which has later been denied (3 posts up from here)

 

[LarsAU]

Damn. And I even tried checking that it wasn't already on the site...

But kinda good its not the real name...

And embarrasing for BT to bring it up if it's already been denied. They are apparently no better jurnos than I am...

 

[Ruxen1989]

Damn. And I even tried checking that it wasn't already on the site...

But kinda good its not the real name...

And embarrasing for BT to bring it up if it's already been denied. They are apparently no better jurnos than I am...

Yup and tv2.dk was not much faster

 

[L'arriviste]

Some guy on the Le Soir website quoted GENII Capital as the "promoters of the team" (not sponsors) in comments to a story on Monfort's move to Team Schleck.

He names no sources (naturally) so it's pinch of salt stuff, but the investor is already a minor sponsor of Renault F1 and was originally linked to the setting up a new team for the Le Mans 24hr motor race (negotiations for which ultimately fell through in April 2010).

Best not to read too much into it for now, but an interesting idea nonetheless.

(Original article - FR)

 

[Christian]

Some guy on the Le Soir website quoted GENII Capital as the "promoters of the team" (not sponsors) in comments to a story on Monfort's move to Team Schleck.

He names no sources (naturally) so it's pinch of salt stuff, but the investor is already a minor sponsor of Renault F1 and was originally linked to the setting up a new team for the Le Mans 24hr motor race (negotiations for which ultimately fell through in April 2010).

Best not to read too much into it for now, but an interesting idea nonetheless.

(Original article - FR)

This is an interesting rumour, and I think there could be something to it. The owner of Genii Capital is a Luxembourger named Gérard Lopez, who plays in the same league (financially) as Flavio Becca. Naturally, the two are friends.

Lopez was mentioned in an article in Swiss magazine "Blick" early this year, before anyone had ever heard of the "Lux Cycling Project". The article said that both Lopez and Becca had met with Andy Rihs of BMC, and were trying to set up a transer of the Schlecks and other high-profile riders to Rihs' team. I don't know how much of that is true, but from what it seems this meeting really did take place.

So it would seem logical for Lopez and his firm Genii Capital to be involved in the Lux Cycling Project. It also seems that Genii Capital has a large stake in Skype, which is sponsoring HTC. Therefore I was surprised when that deal was announced not so long ago, because I thought they might sponsor the Luxembourg Project.

 

[Ruxen1989]

Speaking of the danish medias (BT, Tv2.dk and ....) And why we need better sources than them talking about the Lux. team.

Nygaards last twitter

certain parts of the Danish media needs to open the window a tad and let a little fresh air in. It's a getting a bit too local in there...

I agree with Nygaard. They are slow and then everytime it is Saxo Bank to Luxembourg related like Klemme today. Team Luxembourg is steeling from Bjarne Riis. That is actually one of the headlines on the news from Luxembourg on tv2.dk today. I have never seen anyone so victimized as Riis is in the danish media right now. Now, where is the puke-smiley?

It's getting pretty anoying.

 

[luckyboy]

This team is looking pretty cool so far.