Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
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Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team is a US-based professional road bicycle racing team. It is the continuation of the 2004 US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. Lance Armstrong, seven time Tour de France winner, was its leader (albeit only during the Tour) until July 2005. Since 2005, the team is one of the 20 teams that compete in the new UCI ProTour.
On June 15 2004, the Discovery Channel signed a deal to become sponsor of the team for the seasons of 2004 until 2008. As part of the sponsorship deal, Armstrong will provide on-air appearances for the Discovery Networks TV Channels, including but not limited to, The Discovery Channel, TLC, and Fit TV.
The deal is not expected to affect OLN's rights to air major cycling events such as the Tour de France, despite the fact that the two channels are competitors.
The team is directed by the Belgian Johan Bruyneel, who also managed U.S. Postal. The chief mechanic is Julien DeVries. The team is co-owned by Tailwind Sports Corp. of San Francisco and Capital Sports & Entertainment of Austin, TX.
In its maiden year, the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team has won two of the three Grand Tours of cycling: The Tour de France (Lance Armstrong) and the Giro d'Italia (Paolo Savoldelli).
2006 team list
No data in the '2005 team' column indicates the rider also rode for Discovery Channel in the 2005 season.
Team leaders include 2005 Tour White Jersey winner, Yaroslav Popovych, George Hincapie, and climbing specialists Jose Azevedo & Jose Luis Rubiera and also Paolo Salvodelli (winner 2005 Giro). Other notable riders include Manel Beltran, and Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov, who is the most experienced rider in the team at 40 years old, having ridden the Tour 11 times and finished each one.
Sponsors [1]
- Discovery Channel
- AMD
- 24 Hour Fitness
- Berry Floor
- Trek / Bontrager (same company)
- Nike, Inc.
- Outdoor Life Network
- Power Bar
- Thomas Weisel Partners
- Bissell
- Subaru
- Shimano
- Ciclosport
- Dasani
- Giro
- Hutchinson
- Carmichael Training Systems
- Park Tool USA
- Sci Con
- Sapim Race Spokes
- Maximize
- Tacx
External links
- Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
- The Official Fan Club of Lance Armstrong and the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
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