Discovery Channel cycling team to disband
The only U.S.-based team has been unable to find a sponsor since the cable television company announced to would not renew its contract.
By Diane Pucin
August 10, 2007
Discovery Channel, the only U.S.-based professional level cycling team, will announce today that it has been unable to find a new sponsor and will disband at the end of the 2007 racing season, according to sources
The team partially owned by seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has been searching for a new sponsor since last spring when the cable television company announced it would not re-sign.
While Discovery Channel executives had said they were not influenced by the ongoing doping scandals that have plagued the sport for over a year, it left the team trying to find a new title sponsor willing to spend upward of $14 million a year in a climate of constant negative publicity.
Under pressure to showcase its team, Discovery Channel produced both the Tour de France winner (Spain's Alberto Contador) and third-place finisher (Levi Leipheimer of Santa Rosa, Calif.) last month.
On Thursday, T-Mobile, the sponsor of the German team that had a rider suspended during last month's tour for failing a drug test, announced it was continuing its sponsorship through 2010. A T-Mobile source said that U.S. national champion George Hincapie, who has ridden for Discovery Channel (and its previous incarnation United States Postal Service), would be signing a contract with the company for next season.
Also, Contador and Discovery Channel team director Johan Bruyneel are having a news conference in Spain today amid reports that Contador's role in the Spanish drug investigation Operacion Puerto is not as innocent as Contador and Bruyneel have claimed.
Contador, who was barred this week from riding in a one-day classic race in Hamburg, Germany, because of his alleged connection to Operacion Puerto, had said during the Tour de France that his name appeared in the Spanish documents only because he trained with riders who were being treated by Operacion Puerto doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
Discovery Channel officials were unavailable for comment Thursday and Contador has reportedly said he would only read a statement today and not take questions.
There has been a U.S.-based professional team since 1981 when Jim Ochowicz founded the 7-Eleven team. In 1991, Motorola took over sponsorship until 1996 when the United States Postal Service (USPS) became the title sponsor. It was the USPS team that first nurtured Armstrong and hired Bruyneel.
diane.pucin@latimes.com
Shooter
08-10-07, 05:41 AM
At the end of the TDF, I thought I heard that Discovery would continue for another year. Maybe it was just a rumor or maybe they've reconsidered after all the recent Contador news. Maybe Lance should sponsor Slipstream.
Devil
08-10-07, 06:05 AM
Maybe Lance should sponsor Slipstream.
Something tells me that Lance and Vaughters aren't the closest of friends.
SunSwingsLow
08-10-07, 06:26 AM
Looks like Contador just became a MASSIVE free agent. Hes going to demand HUGE dollars where ever he lands.
oldsprinter
08-10-07, 07:23 AM
Looks like Contador just became a MASSIVE free agent. Hes going to demand HUGE dollars where ever he lands.
Oh yes, HUGE, T-Mobile, CSC, Gerolsteiner, Slipstream - they'll all be falling over each other to get to him first...
Not.
maddyfish
08-10-07, 07:57 AM
Looks like Contador just became a MASSIVE free agent. Hes going to demand HUGE dollars where ever he lands.
HAve you been watching the same cycling news as the rest of us???
Just the fact that the 8 time TDF winning team, with 1st, 2rd, and 8th in GC can't find a sponsor should tell you that the money is leaving cycling.
Bacciagalupe
08-10-07, 08:10 AM
HAve you been watching the same cycling news as the rest of us???
Just the fact that the 8 time TDF winning team, with 1st, 2rd, and 8th in GC can't find a sponsor should tell you that the money is leaving cycling.
And T-Mobile, who didn't do very well and had a rider busted during the tour, just renewed.
Seems to me like it will be a lot harder to get an American sponsor. IIRC viewership for this year's TdF was up, and the crowds (there and for the Giro) were also huge.
oldsprinter
08-10-07, 08:34 AM
Viewing figures were up 33 percent in Australia. 3 people watched.
CaDan
08-10-07, 08:34 AM
Goodbye sister Disco
With your flashing trash lamps
Goodbye sister Disco
And to your clubs and your tramps
redtires
08-10-07, 08:43 AM
Goodbye sister Disco
With your flashing trash lamps
Goodbye sister Disco
And to your clubs and your tramps
Ooof!
Moochers_Dad
08-10-07, 08:46 AM
I love how the news reports keep saying that Contador was banned from a race in Germany he wasn't going to ride anyway.
rschulze
08-10-07, 08:49 AM
So long massive Trek sponsorship
oldsprinter
08-10-07, 08:52 AM
Bruyneel is "retiring"
rschulze
08-10-07, 08:54 AM
Excerpt from VeloNews
Stapleton and team director Johan Bruyneel had reportedly been close to signing sponsors on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, in a year punctuated by doping scandals, many potential sponsors might have been scared away by the risk of becoming mired in controversy (http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/12349.0.html).
Cromulent
08-10-07, 08:55 AM
Bruyneel is "retiring"
No doubt to spend more time with his family.
musician
08-10-07, 09:12 AM
So long massive Trek sponsorship
well, Trek doesn't sponsor the team just for fun -- they must feel that it helps their bottom line profits, from sales in bike shops around the world.
so if their bikes aren't being used by the top team, will they be as appealing to shoppers? will sales go down? will this hurt a US bike company? will it hurt bike shops?
maddyfish
08-10-07, 09:17 AM
I suspect TREK will just get on with another team.
erader
08-10-07, 09:52 AM
well, Trek doesn't sponsor the team just for fun -- they must feel that it helps their bottom line profits, from sales in bike shops around the world.
so if their bikes aren't being used by the top team, will they be as appealing to shoppers? will sales go down? will this hurt a US bike company? will it hurt bike shops?
trek grew ten-fold thanx to lance and road riding experienced a re-birth. you bet this will hurt trek and cycling in general.
ed rader
erader
08-10-07, 09:53 AM
No doubt to spend more time with his family.
and maybe get in a little golf with och.
ed rader
VT Biker
08-10-07, 10:18 AM
I believe the Contador announcement and the Disco announcement are not conincidents.
Contador knew ahead of time that the team was going to disband. Contador is going to be a free-agent, who by the way, is under a WADA doping investigation. Based on that, I actually think that all the Pro Tour teams (aside from Team Disco) comply with the agreement NOT to sign any rider associated with an on-going investigation. So with Bruyneel gone, Contador I think is going to find the market for his services severly depressed, and he may not even be signed by a Pro Tour team.
Secondly - I think the Team Disco mess is not indicative of the sport. First of all, Tradewinds (Team Disco's management company) was asking for $45 million over 3 years from the title sponsor alone. The median total annual budget for the Pro Tour teams is $9.2 million, which means total revenues from the title sponsors are less than that.
So you had a team, rife with drug accusations and questions, signing questionable riders such as Basso and Contador asking for double what most title sponsors are asking for. And Bruyneel wonders why he had to go to China to try to find a sponsor.
I also happen to think that Bruyneel and Lance asked for such a high price because they see the changes coming, and likely, wanted to leave Pro cycling before the s*&t really starts to hit the fan with Bruyneel. It is akin to the older baseball player who likes being retired, but will come back for $20 million a year (Roger Clemens). Lance made this comment per Cyclingnews's article:
"I do not think you have seen the last of this organisation in the sport, but clearly things need to improve on many levels, with a more unified front, before you would see us venture back into cycling,"
Take it how you want it, but I think interpret this to mean that the rider's and teams should be pushing back against the testing authorities with a more unified front. Not that the sport needs a unified front against doping.
I am really happy that the two guys in my opinion who did more to help fuel the drug culture in Cycling than perhaps any other riders/owners found themselves stuck because their reputations really do precede them.
GGDub
08-10-07, 10:36 AM
No doubt to spend more time with his family.
translation,
partying with Pearl Jam and Dennis Rodman at Lollapalooza:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMZEXepC95A
Cromulent
08-10-07, 10:41 AM
translation,
partying with Pearl Jam and Dennis Rodman at Lollapalooza:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMZEXepC95A
Johan can sing backup and play the tambourine? Sweet!
Well that news sucks, or at least it's not what I thought they were going to announce.
lmccall
08-10-07, 12:24 PM
The news of Tailwind pulling out of cycling and Bruyneel's retirement is heartbreaking. That a successful cycling team can't find a sponsor is sad indeed.
Other professional sports have managed to keep doping allegations from sticking, and would just as soon not subject their athletes to the level of scrutiny applied to cyclists. The safety of false perceptions keeps those sponsors signing the checks.
Fans of cycling aren't going to blame a sponsor if an athlete fails a drug test. It must be the non-fans the sponsors are afraid of. They don't want to seem guilty by association.
How is professional cycling going to change public perceptions?
harlond
08-10-07, 12:41 PM
I am really happy that the two guys in my opinion who did more to help fuel the drug culture in Cycling than perhaps any other riders/owners found themselves stuck because their reputations really do precede them.In other news, cycling fans everywhere are celebrating the decision of T-Mobile to continue in the sport, undeterred by doping evidence against the team which includes the admission that the team had a longstanding, teamwide doping program, positive tests by current riders as recently as last month, recent positive tests by former riders (such as Vino and Kessler), and continued representation of the team by Rolf Aldag, who has admitted participating in the teamwide doping program.
erader
08-10-07, 12:48 PM
The news of Tailwind pulling out of cycling and Bruyneel's retirement is heartbreaking. That a successful cycling team can't find a sponsor is sad indeed.
Other professional sports have managed to keep doping allegations from sticking, and would just as soon not subject their athletes to the level scrutiny applied to cyclists. The safety of false perceptions keeps those sponsors signing the checks.
Fans of cycling aren't going to blame a sponsor if an athlete fails a drug test. It must be the non-fans the sponsors are afraid of. They don't want to seem guilty by association.
How is professional cycling going to change public perceptions?
declare victory in the war on doping and stop the witch hunt :eek:.
ed rader
vik
08-10-07, 12:52 PM
The news of Tailwind pulling out of cycling and Bruyneel's retirement is heartbreaking. That a successful cycling team can't find a sponsor is sad indeed.
From Velonews (http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/13071.0.html) :
"This was a difficult decision, not made any easier by our recent Tour de France success," Stapleton added. "We were in talks with a number of companies about the opportunity and were confident a new sponsor was imminent. [B]We have chosen, however, to end those discussions."
Tailwind spokesman PJ Rabice told VeloNews Friday morning that the decision was not based on "a failure to find a new sponsor."
Sounds like there may be other factors at play rather than not being able to find a sponsor.
VT Biker
08-10-07, 01:15 PM
In other news, cycling fans everywhere are celebrating the decision of T-Mobile to continue in the sport, undeterred by doping evidence against the team which includes the admission that the team had a longstanding, teamwide doping program, positive tests by current riders as recently as last month, recent positive tests by former riders (such as Vino and Kessler), and continued representation of the team by Rolf Aldag, who has admitted participating in the teamwide doping program.
Difference:
Team Manager Disco: Bruyneel who oversaw the Lance Armstrong years, and signed Basso (admitting to at least planning to dope) and Contador (now under a WADA investigation).
Team Manager T-Mobile: Stapleton ~ brought in to run the team in 2007 in order to CLEAN THE TEAM UP.
Sponsors are not staying away from the team itself, they are staying away from owners and managers who have a shady history with doping.
GGDub
08-10-07, 01:16 PM
From Velonews (http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/13071.0.html) :
"This was a difficult decision, not made any easier by our recent Tour de France success," Stapleton added. "We were in talks with a number of companies about the opportunity and were confident a new sponsor was imminent. [B]We have chosen, however, to end those discussions."
Tailwind spokesman PJ Rabice told VeloNews Friday morning that the decision was not based on "a failure to find a new sponsor."
Sounds like there may be other factors at play rather than not being able to find a sponsor.
Yeah like, "We'll sponsor you if implement T-Mobile and Slipstream like testing"
"Err, then we won't be winning"
It was imminent btw, my very good friend spent a good part of the tour helping run a private big-wig tour for the potential new sponsors and when he finished he was pretty sure that tailwinds had found their sponsor.
VT Biker
08-10-07, 01:21 PM
From Velonews (http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/13071.0.html) :
"This was a difficult decision, not made any easier by our recent Tour de France success," Stapleton added. "We were in talks with a number of companies about the opportunity and were confident a new sponsor was imminent. [B]We have chosen, however, to end those discussions."
Tailwind spokesman PJ Rabice told VeloNews Friday morning that the decision was not based on "a failure to find a new sponsor."
Sounds like there may be other factors at play rather than not being able to find a sponsor.
My initial speculation is that Armstrong and Bruyneel realize that if they stay in cycling:
(a) They risk continued allegations and potentially being outed for having been knee-deep in the PED's during Lance's career. They saw what happened with the T-Mobile affair and Bjarne Riis. Why stay in the sport where the spotlight and inquiries into the 99 - 2007 run will always be a constant. Lance I think realizes it is time to get out before he gets outed.
(b) The increased testing that is coming to the Pro Tour is not going to favor this team. This team has built up its success by being the best chemically enhanced team on the planet. The increased scrutiny and testing were going to take away their advantage over the Peleton.
(c) Contador: I have a feeling they see the heat coming down on Contador, and that in itself was a hinderence in getting a new sponsor. The last thing they want to do is to be an active team and have to deal with one of its riders being stripped of the Yellow. This would also add more heat and inquiries into Lance.
vik
08-10-07, 02:43 PM
My initial speculation is that Armstrong and Bruyneel realize that if they stay in cycling:
(a) They risk continued allegations and potentially being outed for having been knee-deep in the PED's during Lance's career. They saw what happened with the T-Mobile affair and Bjarne Riis. Why stay in the sport where the spotlight and inquiries into the 99 - 2007 run will always be a constant. Lance I think realizes it is time to get out before he gets outed.
(b) The increased testing that is coming to the Pro Tour is not going to favor this team. This team has built up its success by being the best chemically enhanced team on the planet. The increased scrutiny and testing were going to take away their advantage over the Peleton.
(c) Contador: I have a feeling they see the heat coming down on Contador, and that in itself was a hinderence in getting a new sponsor. The last thing they want to do is to be an active team and have to deal with one of its riders being stripped of the Yellow. This would also add more heat and inquiries into Lance.
+1 - Lance to Bruneeyl "...Johan...dude...get out while your on top baby - just like me...all it will take is one Landis and US Postal/Disco goes down the toilet bowel of history. Leave now and you have 8 TdeF wins in 9 years and you da' man!..."
harlond
08-10-07, 02:43 PM
Difference:
Team Manager Disco: Bruyneel who oversaw the Lance Armstrong years, and signed Basso (admitting to at least planning to dope) and Contador (now under a WADA investigation).
Team Manager T-Mobile: Stapleton ~ brought in to run the team in 2007 in order to CLEAN THE TEAM UP.Like I said, you are undeterred by the evidence.
VT Biker
08-10-07, 04:05 PM
Like I said, you are undeterred by the evidence.
No - I understand the evidence. You are the one who is ignoring the evidence.
Bob Stapleton was NOT AROUND PRIOR TO 2007. Any infractions in 2006 or before have nothing to do with the current T-Mobile team. Secondly, any former T-Mobile riders caught doping this year have no bearing on the current team. Did it pass over your head the fact that Kloden decided not to re-up with T-Mobile after Stapleton came on board, and where did he go....Astana!!
Finally - the current T-Mobile rider flagged for testosterone is bothersome. However, testosterone is the one PED that is really going to be tough for teams to monitor. All it takes is a desperate athlete to get a hold of some testosterone gel patches, and behind his hotel door apply it. I definately raised an eye-brow when this ocurred, but due to the open committment of Stapleton to clean the team up, the Kloden defection and the lackluster performances of T-Mobile, leads me to beleive that Stapleton is doing more than teams like Disco and Astana.
Remember - there is more to a team than the Jersey. The 2007 T-Mobile team is a much different team than the pre-2007 team even though the jersey is the same.
If the same management team was running T-Mobile as prior to 2007, I would be in complete agreement with you. But T-Mobile and Stapleton are trying to change this team and the sport.
pdxtex
08-10-07, 05:05 PM
well this sucks....looks like slipstream is the new US team to watch.
Raiyn
08-10-07, 05:09 PM
There goes any chance of TV coverage next year.
harlond
08-10-07, 07:52 PM
But T-Mobile and Stapleton are trying to change this team and the sport.Your belief in this proposition is your whole case. Ain't much.
Devil
08-10-07, 07:58 PM
My initial speculation is that Armstrong and Bruyneel realize that if they stay in cycling:
(a) They risk continued allegations and potentially being outed for having been knee-deep in the PED's during Lance's career. They saw what happened with the T-Mobile affair and Bjarne Riis. Why stay in the sport where the spotlight and inquiries into the 99 - 2007 run will always be a constant. Lance I think realizes it is time to get out before he gets outed.
(b) The increased testing that is coming to the Pro Tour is not going to favor this team. This team has built up its success by being the best chemically enhanced team on the planet. The increased scrutiny and testing were going to take away their advantage over the Peleton.
(c) Contador: I have a feeling they see the heat coming down on Contador, and that in itself was a hinderence in getting a new sponsor. The last thing they want to do is to be an active team and have to deal with one of its riders being stripped of the Yellow. This would also add more heat and inquiries into Lance.
Those were my immediate thoughts as soon as I heard the news about Discovery disbanding, especially your first point.
VT Biker
08-10-07, 08:15 PM
Those were my immediate thoughts as soon as I heard the news about Discovery disbanding, especially your first point.
It is why I think the asking price for the sponsorship was so high. If they really wanted to stay in cycling, they would have dropped their demands for $15 million per year. As I stated in another thread, they wanted out of cycling, set the price so high, that: (a) if they get it, holy crap, take it; (b) if not, they can leave cycling with an excuse: i.e. - "We could not get a sponsor".
USAZorro
08-10-07, 08:48 PM
If Thomas Weisel partners had remained motivated, this team would have found a viable sponsor. I think those gents just got bored with their game, and are ready to take their mega-millions with them as they retire and ride their bikes off into the sunset. They've satisfied their egos eight times over now, and probably feel they have nothing left to prove on this stage.
pdxtex
08-10-07, 11:32 PM
im still beside myself about this news. 15 million does sound like a huge budget for a cycling team but it seems like they were just starting to get their post lance stride back. obviously, with the contador win and overall team win. wtf?!! even with the controversy of this tour (when is there not controversy anyway?!!), and a rider who was caught doping, t-mobile announced that is going to stay on as a title sponsor of its team....so to discovery, why quit now?!! i think they are just throwing in the towel and giving up, and for me a fan, i feel let down. i guess its all eyes on slipstream now....go team burrito.
VT Biker
08-11-07, 06:17 AM
im still beside myself about this news. 15 million does sound like a huge budget for a cycling team but it seems like they were just starting to get their post lance stride back. obviously, with the contador win and overall team win. wtf?!! even with the controversy of this tour (when is there not controversy anyway?!!), and a rider who was caught doping, t-mobile announced that is going to stay on as a title sponsor of its team....so to discovery, why quit now?!! i think they are just throwing in the towel and giving up, and for me a fan, i feel let down. i guess its all eyes on slipstream now....go team burrito.
This is why even the main stream media is raising questions about the motivation in the articles. The NY Times even raised the doping question. You do not win your 8th Tour in 9 years, have arguably the youngest talent in the entire peleton (equaled maybe by Andy Schleck) on your team and have Lance Armstrong backing you, and throw in the towel like they did. You are telling me that $10 million would not have worked? I mean, this is not like Contador is on his last leg, and the rest of the team is weak and old, and there is a serious rebuilding project ahead. They would have been clear favorites next year.
Even if USAZorro is correct, and some of the Partners wanted out, if Lance and Bruyneel really wanted, they could have found other partners.
Lance and Bruyneel wanted out. You have to work on that presumption and from there, you then do the thought experiment as to why? And as stated by numerous posters, the Bjarne Riis and T-Mobile situation was probably a big reason why. These guys can leave, and slowly people will move on. If Lance and Bruyneel stay in the sport, with the Contador investigation going on, all it will do is lead to more questions and potentially the entire bag of beans being spilled about the 1999 - 2005 era.
a77impala
08-11-07, 09:21 AM
According to an internal email sent to Trek employees they will be looking for another team to ride their bikes.
NotAsFat
08-11-07, 11:30 AM
Lance and Bruyneel wanted out.Why the hell shouldn't Lance want out? He doesn't need the money. LAF gives him plenty to do to keep busy. The only thing he has left to prove, as a cyclist, is that he didn't dope. And he's never gonna do that to the satisfaction of the has-beens, never-weres, wanna-bes, and just plain trolls that wouldn't take God almighty's word that he rode clean. :mad: So why SHOULDN'T he just say fcuk it?
marqueemoon
08-11-07, 04:22 PM
This is shady stuff but I'm not exactly surprised.
I'd love to see George take one last crack at the spring classics. Hopefully he'll have the team to do it now.
erader
08-11-07, 07:30 PM
This is shady stuff but I'm not exactly surprised.
I'd love to see George take one last crack at the spring classics. Hopefully he'll have the team to do it now.
as much as like george i don't think he has it in him anymore. the desire or the ability.
ed rader
VT Biker
08-11-07, 07:46 PM
According to an internal email sent to Trek employees they will be looking for another team to ride their bikes.
Is this the surprise of the century or what. Of course they will be looking for another team. Seems to me, after Disco, Astana is the best fit for Trek.:rolleyes:
idiq
08-16-07, 06:07 AM
I mean, I'm really not surprised about the Disco team dropping Slipstream, Cycling is looking more and more like European Football IMO.
Apparently, the hunt for the new sponsors went as far as CHINA. CHINA!!! Doping in the tour happens - lets face it - but I think all of the publicity regarding Landis and his "innocence" brought a lot more attention than usual. And then you have his claims of some photograph of Lance's blood being transfered on a motorbike...
How can we so quickly forget LeMond? Training with his neighbor who called him "The Champ" he made a comeback victory to win the tour? After he was shot in the back?
Nevertheless, Trek is going to be served as a company if they can't find themselves a new team to ride their bikes. Half the people coming into the shop I work at are like, "Trek? Well, I know that's a good brand because Lance Armstrong rides it!" I'm not saying that will change at all - but just think if Trek starts coming back to Interbike...
efficiency
08-16-07, 08:54 AM
And then you have his claims of some photograph of Lance's blood being transfered on a motorbike...
Just to be clear on this point, it was an instant messaging log, between Frankie Andreau and Jonathan Vaughters where one of them (I think it was Andreau) said that Floyd had the pictures, not Floyd himself making this claim.
idiq
08-16-07, 09:40 AM
Just to be clear on this point, it was an instant messaging log, between Frankie Andreau and Jonathan Vaughters where one of them (I think it was Andreau) said that Floyd had the pictures, not Floyd himself making this claim.
Thanks for pointing that out, I should have clarified.
maalea
08-22-07, 08:08 PM
The reason you need $15 mill instead of 10 is that the doctors needed to administer micro doses of EPO don't come cheap and riders can't carry thermos' full of EPO around anymore, you have to pay everyone off. Very pricey, indeed.