Originally Posted by
roadwarrior
They kept it simple because they didn't have a title sponsor. Thus the mostly blank jersey. They ran the team on Trek money and the little bit they get from their associates like Craft and Luxair and Mercedes. The big money is still there with Nissan and The Shack.
I am trying to figure out what "major sponsor" was lost.
BTW...you get rid of "that big R" and you walk away from money. Money that pays the bills.
Leopard is a management company owned by Brian Nygaard and finding that out took a little Google time.
FYI - Trek only contributed about 3m Eur plus materials (normal as equipment sponsor). The money comes from Flavio Becca - he put up 15m of his own cash. He wanted a title sponsor and didn't get one ... so he found one himself ... thus the merger.
I think this is what both teams need. Radioshack (the firm) gets a legit GC guy for major tours, Johan gets another prodigy to shape into a winner, and Andy gets his best shot at getting into shape (mentally and physically) to win one. (AKA no more drinking mid-season ...).