22/07/2009 - Big announcement due tomorrow regarding Lance Armstrong's professional cycling team for 2010
It's no secret that Lance Armstrong is set to launch a cycling team in 2010. The sponsors, management staff, riders, scale, and targets are all still unknown, but details are being drip fed via Armstrong on his Facebook and Twitter accounts and by rumours on the Internet.
What we do know is this. Nike and Livestrong will almost certainly be involved, and the bikes will more than likely be Trek with SRAM components. However, title sponsors, management and riding staff are obviously still unknown.
One very strong management possibility is Johan Bruyneel. Bruyneel. Bruyneel, who was instrumental in all 7 of Lance Armstrong's Tour de France wins and Alberto Contador's trio (soon to be 4?) of grand tour wins, will more than likely be alongside Armstrong in the development and management of the new team. The indications that an Armstrong-Bruyneel team is on the horizon has been fueled by Bruyneel himself, who has told the Belgium media that he is "done" with the Astana team at the end of the season.
The Astana team has been having a torrid time of late, with rider's wages not being paid by the Kazakh state owned companies that sponsor the team. On top of this, the return of Alexander Vinokourov has been a cause for concern for Bruyneel. Vinokourov apparently announced his comeback to the Astana team without consulting Bruyneel. He also reportedly told Bruyneel that he had the backing of the Kazakh sponsors, and that if Bruyneel did not agree to the details of his comeback, he would be sacked.
Several names spring to mind as potential sponsors. Armstrong has a long and close relationship with Trek, Nike and Oakley, although traditionally none of these appear to be the type to be the title sponsor of a major Pro Tour team. Armstrong, on his Twitter page, indicated there would be "a very cool announcement" will be made on Thursday regarding "a new American partner for our team in 2010 (and beyond)". Whether "our" team means Astana or a new team remains to be seen.
Staff wise, it's hard to see Contador remaining in an Armstrong owned team after this year's Tour de France. There has been tension in the Astana camp with no real team leader decided until Contador attacked to take over a minute out of Armstrong. The rumour is that Contador won't be with Astana next year. Renault F1 driver Fernando Alonso, who is apparently a huge cycling fan, is set to launch his own cycling team next season, which is to be backed by Spanish financial group Santander. Coincidentally, Alonso is set to switch F1 teams from Renault to Ferrari, who are also to be backed by Santander next season. Apparently, as a good friend of Alonso's, Alberto Contador is set to leave Astana and be the team's lead rider. Unless Armstrong himself is intending to try and win the 2010 Tour de France himself, losing Contador would be a big blow to the team's aspirations.
Some assumptions can be made regarding the involvement of certain sponsors and other riders. Sponsors may include Trek, SRAM, Nike, Bontrager, Mellow Johnny's, HED, Carmichael Training Systems, Pedal Hard and of course Armstrong's cancer charity, Livestrong. In terms of the possible big name sponsor, one can only speculate. Three names that have surfaced on the rumour mill are Apple (makers of computers, the ipod and iphone), Google (the search engine giant) and Oracle (enterprise software manufacturer).
Personnel wise, Johan Bruyneel will more than likely take a management role. With him may well come Sean Yates, who rode with Lance Armstrong in the Motorola team, was a manager during Armstrong's Discovery Channel days, and now works for Astana alongside Bruyneel. Axel Merckx, who is Directeur Sportif for the Trek-Livestrong U-23 team, might have a role also.
Rider wise, George Hincapie (who rode with Armstrong during all 7 of his Tour wins), Taylor Phinney (who rides for the Trek-Livestrong U-23 Team), Levi Leipheimer (Astana) and Chris Horner (Astana) are all strong possibilities.
A lot of this is speculation, but one suspects a huge part of the jigsaw will be in place tomorrow when Armstrong makes the sponsor announcement.
