And Armstrong goes to...

Shaggz

A strong 7
Will Borat be part of the crew?
New kits:

borat.jpg
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
I was wondering what contador was going to do, should make for an interesting tour in '09.
 

MEAN IRISH GUY

Horse-faced space dog
ah ok. still kinda odd who he is riding with. almost like he spun a globe and threw a dart at it and said "i shall ride with the khazeks" hahah
 

BiknBen

Well-Known Member
ah ok. still kinda odd who he is riding with. almost like he spun a globe and threw a dart at it and said "i shall ride with the khazeks" hahah

He won seven TdFs with the Director Sportif of the Astana team, Johan Bruyneel. He wasn't going to race for any other team. This was just the official announcement.

All teams have a country of origin but that does not dictate where their riders are from. There are two top-tier teams based out of the US; Team Columbia and Team Garmin/Chipotle. The majority of the roster may be Americans simply because it is cheaper to maintain a team made up of riders that are close together. Less travel expenses.

The only time country of origin matters is during the yearly World Championships and the Olympics. For these events, each countries governing body chooses the roster for the event. Riders put aside their professional alliances for a day and race for their nation.
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I'm not surprised. I read somewhere that one of lance's former coaches (or manager or something) was part of that team and the speculation was he'd go there. Are they a trek team? I thought lance was still tied to them (trek)?
 
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stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
I'm not surprised. I read somewhere that one of lance's former coaches (or manager or something) was part of that team and the speculation was he'd go there. Are they a trek team? I thought lance was still tied to them (trek)?

I thought I heard they weren't a Trek team but I am finding some sources saying they area. One conflict is they are a SRAM team and Lance has been Shimano.
 

Steve Vai

Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
Are they a trek team? I thought lance was still tied to them (trek)?

Here's the super-secret-inside scoop from the Trek dealer website posted yesterday...shhhhhh...;)

Armstrong Joins Astana Cycling Team

09/24/2008

Seven-Time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong Joins Astana Cycling Team

Astana Cycling Team General Manager Johan Bruyneel has confirmed Lance Armstrong’s announcement to make his professional cycling comeback with Team Astana. Armstrong, who retired in 2005 after recording history with his seventh Tour de France title (all with Bruyneel), has devoted the last three years to the fight against cancer, an illness which temporarily halted his cycling career in 1996. Armstrong now rejoins Bruyneel and Team Astana in an effort to once again return as a champion cyclist and more importantly raise the awareness of the global cancer burden.

Bruyneel was excited to learn of Armstrong’s return to the sport. "In 1998, Lance asked me to direct his US Postal Service Team and now, ten years later, Lance has asked to make his comeback with Team Astana. I am truly honored and very much looking forward to closely working with him again. What we saw from 1999 to 2005 was arguably the most exciting time in professional cycling and I know Lance will bring the same level of charisma, passion and influence to the team, sport and global cancer community." Bruyneel went on to continue, "Our Kazakh sponsors are extremely pleased with Lance’s decision. A major goal of this sponsorship is to develop the best generation of Kazakh cyclists and I can’t think of a better rider to learn from than Lance. We know he has all the tools and characteristics of a true champion."

Alberto Contador, who recently captured all three Grand Tour titles (Tour de France – 2007, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España – 2008), is optimistic that Armstrong’s presence on the Team will be positive. "When you look at professional sports, it’s very common to have two or even three champions on one team. Right now people are looking to make up controversy, but honestly I have no ill-will towards Lance. I identify with his passion for the sport. He has certainly been a role model for me and others throughout the world and I imagine having him on Team Astana will only motivate me further. Of course, my objectives for the 2009 season are clear. With Lance and the Team direction we will soon have to talk about it."

Levi Leipheimer, preparing in Varese for tomorrow’s World Championships Time Trial, believes riding with Armstrong for two seasons at the US Postal Service Team was instrumental in his development. "I give a lot of credit to Lance and Johan for my success. Early in my career, I had a great opportunity to directly learn from Lance and I’m excited to see him return to the team; not only personally, but also for the sport and cancer community." Leipheimer continued that he doesn’t see many internal problems with Lance’s arrival. "There are already great leaders on this Team and we have seen success, both individually and as a team. Alberto and I have finished on Grand Tour podiums together and I’m confident that Lance will only continue to push us to be better riders and teammates."

Bruyneel and Armstrong will meet in the next few weeks to discuss the 2009 schedule. As of today, Armstrong plans to ride in the Tour Down Under and the Tour de France.

To date, the members of the 2009 squad:
Lance Armstong, Assan Bazayev, Jani Brajkovic, Alberto Contador, Chris Horner, Maxim Iglinskiy, Roman Kireyev, Andreas Klöden, Berik Kupeshov, Levi Leipheimer, Steve Morabito, Dmitriy Muravyev, Daniel Navarro, Benjamín Noval, Sérgio Paulinho, Gregory Rast, José Luis Rubiera, Michael Shär, Tomas Vaitkus, Andrey Zeits, Haimar Zubeldia.
 

BiknBen

Well-Known Member
Will Lance be riding a Trek? I know he has been riding a Trek MTB recently. I wonder what the HUGE investment in SRAM means for the XTR group as an OEM parts group???

Trek and Lance are virtually one in the same. He wouldn't ride anything else at this point and Trek would do anything possible to keep him on a Trek bike. Astana is using Trek bikes so that's a non-issue. He may have to get used to SRAM though. As far as I know, he is not sponsored by Shimano so there should not be a conflict. SRAM sponsors the team and would expect Lance to use the components on his team bike. Although, Lance could work out a little deal to continue using Shimano stuff if he really wanted. SRAM would not be happy though.

Lance is known to be an old-school dude and will use ancient components that he has had success with. He used a saddle from the '90s (maybe older) for all his TdF wins. He also used ancient Shimano pedals until Shimano created a new design to accommodate him. He forced team mates to ride the same pedal as him just in case he needed to improvise during the race.
 

Steve Vai

Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
To say Lance and Trek are one and the same is an understatement. Lance is part-owner of Trek;)

-Jim.
 

Purple Liquid

Shop: Efinger
Shop Keep
It's ironic that for the photo shoot that with Lance's Fuel before some race, his bike was pictured with Bontrager wheels and Bontrager tires. When you look at his action shots, he's using Stan's rims with Stan's tires.

Shimano and Lance are pretty close. His mountain bike was all Shimano, minus the Avid brakes.

If Shimano loses Lance to SRAM for 09, Shimano will be make their claim stating that Lance made history with their gruppo, but SRAM will be the first one saying that an old dog CAN learn new tricks. :D

I'm interested to see how this ends up.
 
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