New American team created. To be managed by Marc Allan
Marc Allan [bennettWPS] has announced that he has partnered with Cell phone giant LG and bike supplier Cannondale to create a new team. The name of the team is LG-Cannondale Pro Cycling Development Project, or LG-Cannondale. The team is based out of Denver, Colorado. The team will also have facilities in Park City, Utah, Fayetteville, Arkansas, and their European base in Girona, Spain.
The team has already announced that they have signed many Americans to the team, as it wants to show that American cyclists can not only compete with their Euro counterparts, but also win.
Sponsors named
LG comes on with a two-year agreement to be a title sponsor and supply the team with their technical means.
Cannondale's sponsorship with the team is much deeper. The team is seen as Cannondale's race team, as they have signed on to be the main sponsor of the team.
SRAM will supply the hardware.
Verizon Wireless has come on as well as a big sponsor, already using Tyler Farrar in their ads. They will also provide technical support to the team.
Under Armour have supplied the team kits and will come on as a clothing sponsor. They will create a new cycling line of clothing. Kevin Plank, CEO of Under Armour, has also voiced his support to the American team.
Minor sponsors will include Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches, Clif Bar, Nalgene, and Lavish Longboards.
LG-Cannondale will also have Subaru as their official team car.
Tyler Farrar, USA
Our lead sprinter. Will aim for the green jersey and classics
Jurgen Van den Broeck, Belgium
Lead stage race rider. Will aim for the top 10 in the Tour de France
Chris Horner, USA
Ardennes classics leader. Will also aim to defend his Tour of California crown
George Hincapie, USA
Flanders classics leader/super domestique. Will aim for top finishes in Flanders and Paris-Roubaix
Protected Riders/Top Domestiques:
Gerald Ciolek, Germany: Will also be Tyler's top lead-out man
Danilo Napolitano, Italy: Will aim to be the lead sprinter for the Giro
William Bonnet, France: Will be Chris's top lieutenant in the Ardennes
David Zabriskie, USA: Will aim for the time trials, as well as eat up hundreds of kilometers out in front
Baden Cooke, Australia: Will support George and Tyler on the cobbles
Jeremy Roy, France: Will look to be in breakaways
Sheldon Deeny, USA: Will sprint in minor races
"Fast" Freddy Rodriguez, USA: Will mentor the younger sprinters as well as set up for Farrar
Simon Clarke, Australia: Will help Horner in the Ardennes as well as develop as a punchuer
Thomas Peterson, USA: A young American climber who will help Horner and VDB in stage races
Craig Lewis, USA: Young American climber
Young Riders:
Andrew Talansky, USA: Looks to be the next top American stage racer
Barry Markus, Holland: Young Dutch sprinter/tt-er
Peter Stetina, USA: Young American climber
Sander Cordeel, Belgium: Young cobbler
Jaco Venter, South Africa: One of the top African Climbers
Jens Debusschere, Belgium: Another Belgian cobbler
Thomas Bonnin, France: French climbing hopeful
Alex Howes, USA: potential GC rider
Sergej Fuchs, Germany: Young German climber
Chris Barton, USA: Young American climber
George Bennett, New Zealand: The Kiwi Climber
Marc's Corner will be a section on the website [like an editorial] that will be the personal blog for LG-Cannondale Manager Marc Allan
Today, I want to bring up the preseason. The LGC Team looked really sharp at our training camp base in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Not many will know where Fayetteville is, but the terrain is perfect for a training camp. There's hills, mountains, flats, and many other attractions that bring us here.
Anyway, I want to talk about the competition. We think these teams will have at least one person in any given stage competing for the win.
Ferrari-BA: Simply the top sprint team. When you have two of the fastest men in the peloton with Cav and Ale-Jet, you will compete for the win. You also have Ben Swift and Andrea Guardini for the development. The bad for them, however, is there lack of a true GC leader. Hell, even a noted climber. They have Danny Pate, but he's not going to win the Tour anytime soon.
ANZ-Giant: The team from Down Under will shock people, IMO. Cadel is the Tour champ. He also has excellent support coming from the likes of Mic Rogers, Jakob Fuglsang, and Sandy Casar. Haussler is also a good sprinter who should also compete in the sprints.
Voetbal-SigarSnoor Possibly the best team. They feature Philipe Gilbert, who is the best in the Ardennes. Their youth is also deep, featuring Peter Sagan, Tejay Van Garderen, Rigo Uran, Michael Matthews, Nairo Quintana, Romain Sicard, Luke Durbridge, and Egor Silin. Defiantly the team to watch out for.
That's it for this post. Time to get back on the road and get ready for the season. God Bless and Good day.
Edited by bennettWPS on 10-06-2012 20:49
I have a feeling VI will dissapoint. Sure, Phil and Sagan are guaranteed wins, and Tejay might get a top-15 at the Tour, but those other guys won't win much I don't think. Uran might have a chance in a Paris-Nice type race, But Matthews, Quintana, Sicard, Durbridge and Silin won't get many results I don't think. Overrated.
Teddy The Creator wrote:
I have a feeling VI will dissapoint. Sure, Phil and Sagan are guaranteed wins, and Tejay might get a top-15 at the Tour, but those other guys won't win much I don't think. Uran might have a chance in a Paris-Nice type race, But Matthews, Quintana, Sicard, Durbridge and Silin won't get many results I don't think. Overrated.
I also said give them a year or so. It's a really good rookie team. They'll develop if the manager can keep them signed on. Pretty much the reason I listed them as competition in the future.
Teddy The Creator wrote:
I have a feeling VI will dissapoint. Sure, Phil and Sagan are guaranteed wins, and Tejay might get a top-15 at the Tour, but those other guys won't win much I don't think. Uran might have a chance in a Paris-Nice type race, But Matthews, Quintana, Sicard, Durbridge and Silin won't get many results I don't think. Overrated.
I also said give them a year or so. It's a really good rookie team. They'll develop if the manager can keep them signed on. Pretty much the reason I listed them as competition in the future.
Don't worry the sniper teams are already lining up to steal their riders. I have my eye on one man in particular for the end of the season.
Teddy The Creator wrote:
I have a feeling VI will dissapoint. Sure, Phil and Sagan are guaranteed wins, and Tejay might get a top-15 at the Tour, but those other guys won't win much I don't think. Uran might have a chance in a Paris-Nice type race, But Matthews, Quintana, Sicard, Durbridge and Silin won't get many results I don't think. Overrated.
I also said give them a year or so. It's a really good rookie team. They'll develop if the manager can keep them signed on. Pretty much the reason I listed them as competition in the future.
Don't worry the sniper teams are already lining up to steal their riders. I have my eye on one man in particular for the end of the season.
End of season, hilly classics in Italy. Cunego time....
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game
If I can get Gilbert at 85 HIL at the end of the season, he'll be close to unbeatable.
I didn't even want Sagan, but I was 3rd last on the second draft. He never ever ever ever, ever sprints in GT flat stages. So I can only get points with him in smaller races until he improves his sprint stats.
I'll get rid of Urán after this season. But this year he can still get a lot of young rider jerseys. And that gives me 50% of the points of the GC winner.
Van Garderen ain't that good, but hey, he's only my fourth pick. Also, don't forget Boom He'll be the best cobbler when the oldies get weaker. Apart from that, I'll just have to be lucky with the potentials. Cattaneo and Quintana will get a lot of white jerseys in the future, I'm sure.
But don't expect us to do well in the first season
If I can get Gilbert at 85 HIL at the end of the season, he'll be close to unbeatable.
I didn't even want Sagan, but I was 3rd last on the second draft. He never ever ever ever, ever sprints in GT flat stages. So I can only get points with him in smaller races until he improves his sprint stats.
I'll get rid of Urán after this season. But this year he can still get a lot of young rider jerseys. And that gives me 50% of the points of the GC winner.
Van Garderen ain't that good, but hey, he's only my fourth pick. Also, don't forget Boom He'll be the best cobbler when the oldies get weaker. Apart from that, I'll just have to be lucky with the potentials. Cattaneo and Quintana will get a lot of white jerseys in the future, I'm sure.
But don't expect us to do well in the first season
First off, I did say give the riders a while to develop and they'll be good. And secondly, if you don't want Van Garderen, maybe I could nab him?
If I can get Gilbert at 85 HIL at the end of the season, he'll be close to unbeatable.
I didn't even want Sagan, but I was 3rd last on the second draft. He never ever ever ever, ever sprints in GT flat stages. So I can only get points with him in smaller races until he improves his sprint stats.
I'll get rid of Urán after this season. But this year he can still get a lot of young rider jerseys. And that gives me 50% of the points of the GC winner.
Van Garderen ain't that good, but hey, he's only my fourth pick. Also, don't forget Boom He'll be the best cobbler when the oldies get weaker. Apart from that, I'll just have to be lucky with the potentials. Cattaneo and Quintana will get a lot of white jerseys in the future, I'm sure.
But don't expect us to do well in the first season
First off, I did say give the riders a while to develop and they'll be good. And secondly, if you don't want Van Garderen, maybe I could nab him?
First race of the season is in the books, and it didn't go to plan. Ciolek just didn't have the legs at all. With his best result 20th a couple of times, he just wasn't there. The team has bigger goals down the stretch, so there is no looking back now.
Now to the others. Ferrari-BA blew the others out of the race when it came to a bunch sprint. A couple 1-2 stages for the team puts them on the right track for the season. Mark Cavendish and Ale-Jet Petacchi both showed why they are a couple of the fastest men on two wheels early on in the season. Props to them.
Peter Sagan was easily the most consistent rider during the race, hence his overall victory.
Gene Michael Bates of Red Bull-Oracle was fighting for glory as well. He held off a charging peloton in the last stage and managed to slip into the top 10 after his win. Props to him as well.
Now the riders will return to Fayetteville for some last minute prep before we ship off to Girona for our European season. Everybody on the team is ready to get this season started now that we have gotten past the TDU. We will be seeing the peloton again at Qatar and Mediterranean.
~Marc Allan, GM/DS of LG-Cannondale Pro Cycling Development signing off.
He'll be the best cobbler when the oldies get weaker. Apart from that, I'll just have to be lucky with the potentials. Cattaneo and Quintana will get a lot of white jerseys in the future, I'm sure.
