Lidl-Trek (no longer Radioshack-Leopard Trek)

[Ryo Hazuki]

So if it happens, that makes 3 World Tour places are vacant
Oomega Pharma Lotto
HTC (THR)
Leopard Trek

so new WT teams could become :
Lotto - Ridley
Green Edge
Europcar or FDJ

new wt teams you forget europcar and geox, that have more points and lots of money

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

So basically a millionaire comes into the sport, buys his way into the World Tour, gets bored/disappointed/distracted or whatever, and suddenly tons of people lose their jobs. Yep, cycling increasingly going the way of football.

they loose their jobs with pay. still it's a 2 way situation here. riders last year signing with leopard knew the team had no sponsor. I read on many fora people distrusting the whole situation with leopard and they were right. same is happening now with greenedge. can't believe if you have a choice why you would sign to a team with no sponsor

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

http://velocast.tumblr.com/post/9829215238/lequipe-is-dead-wrong-about-leopard-trek

Then again maybe not.

wow, what a bad article

 

[GJB123]

that will happen anyway, look at how many npoints this vuelta they will put in. also he has 15 million budget a year. I hope they get rid of gianetti though some way or another and continue team under guidance of matxin. gianetti has f'd up too many things now

Seriously, how many points will they have? I know they might still carry over some Rabobank-points from Menchv but other than that they have actually scored very few points this year, haven't they? Is there an overview somewhere as to how the different teams rank until now for PT-status? Or is winning one the three big GT's by definition enough to get them there on points alone?

Regards
GJ

 

[just some guy]

they loose their jobs with pay. still it's a 2 way situation here. riders last year signing with leopard knew the team had no sponsor. I read on many fora people distrusting the whole situation with leopard and they were right. same is happening now with greenedge. can't believe if you have a choice why you would sign to a team with no sponsor

The difference with Greenedge is the Bloke writing the CHQ´s has bee writing them for Australian cycling for years

 

[Sophistic]

Not so sure....
Based on the calculations here http://twitpic.com/66lhni , Geox had 396 (20th) license points before the Vuelta.
The Vuelta victory gets you 30 bonus points, stage win 6, a gc spot outside the top 3 nothing. As or even more important is how much Cobo and Menchov can improve in the extended WT ranks. With a win Cobo should move into the top 20 and get 35 points(instead of 0), Menchov top 30 and get 25 points(instead of 10).
So add about 90-100 points to their total but and they are still out of the top 15.
Then OPQS has added Martin&Leipheimer recently what should put them to about 600 (and ahead of Geox)

 

[Lexman]

Seriously, how many points will they have? I know they might still carry over some Rabobank-points from Menchv but other than that they have actually scored very few points this year, haven't they? Is there an overview somewhere as to how the different teams rank until now for PT-status? Or is winning one the three big GT's by definition enough to get them there on points alone?

Regards
GJ

just checked the UCI site GEOX is 14th in the european ranking almost 1200 points FDJ which leads...

 

[Christian]

It is an interesting article indeed and I like the comparison between LEOPARD TREK and BMC rather than HTC.

It is also interesting that LEOPARD TREK was so well-represented and hyped at TREK-world, with the Schlecks and Cancellara all flying in and doing appearances. If John Burke was indeed behind this merger, than this would be an odd tactic to hype up the squad he is about to destroy.

The author maybe overexaggerates Johny Schleck's influence on the possible merger. While I do get the feeling that he is the patriarch and very influential when it comes to his sons career decisions, I don't see why he wouldn't want them to ride for Bruyneel. In the end, all he wants is for them to be successful and to win the Tour and Bruyneel should be quite suited for that. I don't see any personal reasons why Johny Schleck would dislike Bruyneel.

I like the Sherlock Holmes quote, but I must say I find the author's conclusion still really improbable. Everything put aside, Bruyneel strikes me as a very intelligent man and this conclusion suggests that he has gone loony.

 

[theyoungest]

Seriously, how many points will they have? I know they might still carry over some Rabobank-points from Menchv but other than that they have actually scored very few points this year, haven't they? Is there an overview somewhere as to how the different teams rank until now for PT-status? Or is winning one the three big GT's by definition enough to get them there on points alone?

Regards
GJ

Hellooo, they're about to win the Vuelta...

 

[Christian]

Tom Stamsnijder, one of the riders supposed to be looking for a new team tweeted:

I woke up to bad rumors! Didnt hear anything official!
@Tom_Stamsnijder

 

[canyonball]

Machado's contract should have ended at the end of this season, Oliveira as a neopro would have another year to go.

Ok, this seems like a perfect opportunity for me to clear a question? What is the UCI definition of neo-pro? Oliveira, for instance, was already on a contract last year with Xacobeo.

 

[Anonymous]

It is an interesting article indeed and I like the comparison between LEOPARD TREK and BMC rather than HTC.

It is also interesting that LEOPARD TREK was so well-represented and hyped at TREK-world, with the Schlecks and Cancellara all flying in and doing appearances. If John Burke was indeed behind this merger, than this would be an odd tactic to hype up the squad he is about to destroy.

The author maybe overexaggerates Johny Schleck's influence on the possible merger. While I do get the feeling that he is the patriarch and very influential when it comes to his sons career decisions, I don't see why he wouldn't want them to ride for Bruyneel. In the end, all he wants is for them to be successful and to win the Tour and Bruyneel should be quite suited for that. I don't see any personal reasons why Johny Schleck would dislike Bruyneel.

I like the Sherlock Holmes quote, but I must say I find the author's conclusion still really improbable. Everything put aside, Bruyneel strikes me as a very intelligent man and this conclusion suggests that he has gone loony.

This myth that The Hog is some genius DS needs to be put to bed. How many tours has he won when he didn't have the strongest rider on his team? They sure knocked it out of the park the last two years, no?

Bruyneel hitched his wagon to the biggest sporting fraud in human history, then switched to another rider of questionable repute (but significant talent) and won. Then he indulged his former horse who was now a has-been too much, and split his team, lost his new horse because he just couldn't tell is his has-been to sit in the pack where his diminished talents deserved to be. His new horse left and rode for someone else(and won), and his has-been crapped the bed and Bruyneel looked like an idiot for going with the wrong horse. (Brilliant DS tactics that, no?...oh I forgot, they got the coveted Team Classification ) Then, this past Tour, his team looked like the group of old never-was' that they were. (Well, Levi did win those extremely difficult and demanding California titles...)

This is not to mention the almost certainty that The Hog is under investigation on two continents regarding systematic doping on his teams.

So yea, sounds like just the guy a father who cared about his kids would want to associate his progeny with...

 

[montagna lunga]

This myth that The Hog is some genius DS needs to be put to bed. How many tours has he won when he didn't have the strongest rider on his team? They sure knocked it out of the park the last two years, no?

Bruyneel hitched his wagon to the biggest sporting fraud in human history, then switched to another rider of questionable repute (but significant talent) and won. Then he indulged his former horse who was now a has-been too much, and split his team, lost his new horse because he just couldn't tell is his has-been to sit in the pack where his diminished talents deserved to be. His new horse left and rode for someone else(and won), and his has-been crapped the bed and Bruyneel looked like an idiot for going with the wrong horse. (Brilliant DS tactics that, no?...oh I forgot, they got the coveted Team Classification ) Then, this past Tour, his team looked like the group of old never-was' that they were. (Well, Levi did win those extremely difficult and demanding California titles...)
This is not to mention the almost certainty that The Hog is under investigation on two continents regarding systematic doping on his teams.
So yea, sounds like just the guy a father who cared about his kids would want to associate his progeny with...

Good grief, such vitriol? who (or what) will you focus your hatred and trash talk on when JB has retired ?

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[Christian]

This myth that The Hog is some genius DS needs to be put to bed. How many tours has he won when he didn't have the strongest rider on his team? They sure knocked it out of the park the last two years, no?

Bruyneel hitched his wagon to the biggest sporting fraud in human history, then switched to another rider of questionable repute (but significant talent) and won. Then he indulged his former horse who was now a has-been too much, and split his team, lost his new horse because he just couldn't tell is his has-been to sit in the pack where his diminished talents deserved to be. His new horse left and rode for someone else(and won), and his has-been crapped the bed and Bruyneel looked like an idiot for going with the wrong horse. (Brilliant DS tactics that, no?...oh I forgot, they got the coveted Team Classification ) Then, this past Tour, his team looked like the group of old never-was' that they were. (Well, Levi did win those extremely difficult and demanding California titles...)

This is not to mention the almost certainty that The Hog is under investigation on two continents regarding systematic doping on his teams.

So yea, sounds like just the guy a father who cared about his kids would want to associate his progeny with...

One could make the argument that "any father who cared about his kids" wouldn't let his progeny be associated with Kim Andersen either.

I also think that people overestimate Johny Schleck's knowledge and involvement in today's cycling. To be fair I have never discussed it with him, so I don't really know either. I do know that he once asked Andy "What team is Tiësto on?", and that he's 69 years old and never worked as a DS in his life (someone suggested about a year ago on this forum that he would certainly become a DS at LEOPARD TREK). He travels with the team to the important races, and he knows enough about cycling to ride the scooter in front of his sons. My point being that he simply does not have enough knowledge about Bruyneel or pro cycling of the late 1990's, early 2000's to play an important part in the decision whether or not to bring Bruyneel on board.

Of course I might completely underestimate him, he just never seems that well-informed or competent in his interviews. Therefore I don't know whether he would have an objection to Bruyneel and his 17 TdF wins.

 

[roundabout]

How many wins?

 

[LukeSchmid]

Tejay Van Garderen talking about his move to BMC, http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-garderen-aims-to-be-evans-tour-de-france-support

“Rabobank was interested in taking me back and Garmin was really interested. RadioShack showed some interest as well, but the fact that their sponsorship hunt ended pretty late meant they couldn’t make an offer until I was into negotiations with other teams. Leopard Trek expressed interest and Sky expressed a lot of interest.”

It appears that Radioshack were without a sponsor but that changed. Is that just Radioshack coming on board again or what? Is that also why they have not signed many riders?

 

[LaFlorecita]

One could make the argument that "any father who cared about his kids" wouldn't let his progeny be associated with Kim Andersen either.

I also think that people overestimate Johny Schleck's knowledge and involvement in today's cycling. To be fair I have never discussed it with him, so I don't really know either. I do know that he once asked Andy "What team is Tiësto on?", and that he's 69 years old and never worked as a DS in his life (someone suggested about a year ago on this forum that he would certainly become a DS at LEOPARD TREK). He travels with the team to the important races, and he knows enough about cycling to ride the scooter in front of his sons. My point being that he simply does not have enough knowledge about Bruyneel or pro cycling of the late 1990's, early 2000's to play an important part in the decision whether or not to bring Bruyneel on board.

Of course I might completely underestimate him, he just never seems that well-informed or competent in his interviews. Therefore I don't know whether he would have an objection to Bruyneel and his 17 TdF wins.

 

[Arnout]

About the 4 year commitment:

Especially with rumours of that Nygaard guy (who did he think he was) going to Greenedge, isn't it possible that the Greenedge will obtain the licence of Leopard?

I don't know if you can sell licenses but nothing would surprise me.

Its funny that Leopard was the first team to get a license for 4 years to come as, and I'm quoting, their values, including their financial performance, are sound and solid.

 

[Christian]

lol it was an exaggeration supposed to mean "a whole bunch of"

 

[Anonymous]

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[montagna lunga]

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[LaFlorecita]

lol it was an exaggeration supposed to mean "a whole bunch of"

Okay... Why not say "a whole bunch of" then?

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

TFF and Montagna Lugna: Stop it now. This is a warning.

Susan

 

[Christian]

wort.lu says that "Jens Voigt is the only rider on LEOPARD TREK without a contract" (who only had a 1-year deal)

http://www.wort.lu/wort/web/sport/a.../steht-das-team-leopard-trek-vor-dem-ende.php

Which is also a bit odd, I expected some "weaker" riders like Pedersen to only have a 1-year deal as well.

Another tweet by Martin Mortensen (also supposed to be out of contract):

Okay I am just out of my bed!! Have 25 missed calls!! Whats up there?? I don't know so much!

 

[Anonymous]

Good grief, such vitriol? who (or what) will you focus your hatred and trash talk on when JB has retired ?

*** edited by mod ***

It wasn't vitriol, it is a realistic picture of The Hog's accomplishments. I can understand your confusion...

NOTE: Susan, you left that comment unmoderated, so I am merely responding to a comment you obviously feel is relevant and appropriate with a comment that is no different.