Discovery Channel Team: DONE

[RichK]

Link (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070810/sp_nm/cycling_discovery_dc_2;_ylt=Allqxzwnhr5c0OJqipl.c9 IE1vAI)


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Discovery Channel, the U.S.-based cycling team, will disband at the end of the season after being unable to secure a new sponsor, team manager Johan Bruyneel told Belgian television on Friday.
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"I had contacts with candidate sponsors but the situation in the sport is so bad that nobody wants to be involved with us," Bruyneel told VRT television in Dutch.

:( From the days of the 7-Eleven team, to Motorola, to US Postal, to Discovery, it was great having an "American" team competing at the top.

[Wheel-Nut]

WOW!! :thumdown:

[jonovision_man]

This better be a wake-up call for the sport.

Sponsors do NOT want to be associated with doping.


:( From the days of the 7-Eleven team, to Motorola, to US Postal, to Discovery, it was great having an "American" team competing at the top.

There's a new American team for next year's Tour de France:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/6923056.stm

Slipstream. The team has been around for awhile, but they're only now making a run at the Tour de France.

jono

[Wheel-Nut]

I wonder if any drug maker would want to sponsor a cycling team?

[Sean O'Gorman]

I'd think that 7-Eleven would be good for a comeback, dopeheads love that place.

[ferrarigod]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4XFrTQk7Uig

Your wussiness better come in handy.

on a side note, my men's intramural team was Team Discovery Channel. for the simpsons, not for lance.

my co-ed team is reverse cowgirls. yea. in reference to dat. :D

so where is floyd landis now?

[RichK]

I wonder if any drug maker would want to sponsor a cycling team?

Amgen (maker of EPO) sponsors the Tour of California.

[TravelGal]

And from what I read, Amgen is in pretty tough shape. Or so said the front page of one of the local papers this week.

[coolhand]

Doping or not there are still a lot of riders and fans in the US. I don't know why no one wants to sponsor but after seeing CCs woes I can understand. It is too expensive

[oddlycalm]

:( From the days of the 7-Eleven team, to Motorola, to US Postal, to Discovery, it was great having an "American" team competing at the top. The sword of Damocles just fell on professional cycling. This is a team that has dominated the Tour de France for 8 out of the last nine years and has a long string of victories in other events as well including this years Tour of California. It has had no ties to any drug scandals. Bottom line is that if Johan can't find a sponsor then what hope do the other teams have...?

Meanwhile stick and ball sports with obvious dopers march oblivious on because the management organization look the other way. :shakehead

oc

[coolhand]

T-Mobile is signed till 2009

[jonovision_man]

It has had no ties to any drug scandals.

Not true:
http://www.tdfblog.com/2006/09/two_former_arms.html


Frankie Andreu and an anonymous US Postal rider from the 1999 squad have told the New York Times they used EPO and other banned substances to help deliver Lance Armstrong's first Tour victory.

Add to that the fact that several top riders who left US Postal/Team Discovery tested positive in the year or two following, and IMO you have a team that's just good at not getting caught as opposed to a team that's free of doping. Frankly, I believe they may be one of the worst offenders, but with the best doctors.

In fact Armstrong himself tested positive for EPO:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/24/content_471898.htm

Lucky for him they weren't supposed to be identifying the riders... they had to issue him an apology and the results were never verified publically. But for me there is no doubt that he did it.

jono

[Jag_Warrior]

They should hire Steve Johnson. I bet he could fix it reeeaal good! :gomer:

[oddlycalm]

In fact Armstrong himself tested positive for EPO: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/24/content_471898.htm

Lucky for him they weren't supposed to be identifying the riders... they had to issue him an apology and the results were never verified publically. But for me there is no doubt that he did it. Yes, how incredibly convenient for a tabloid that spewed venom at Armstrong year after year to magically come up with "proof" of doping half a decade before and never mind all the holes in that story. Pure tabloid drivel designed to sell papers IMO.

While I agree with you completely that it is certainly possible that Tailwind/ Discovery was simply better than the rest at not getting caught, the fact is that they didn't. Hiring Basso when he was already in the middle of a scandal wasn't very smooth, but Basso's behavior was never alleged to have happened on their watch nor was the riders that got caught in the years after they left the team.

oc

[Ankf00]

Hiring Basso when he was already in the middle of a scandal wasn't very smooth, but Basso's behavior was never alleged to have happened on their watch it was still their obligation to the rest of ProTour to exclude him just like everyone else involved, they refused. Says everything about their ethical standards, imo.