Team RadioShack line-up finalised
Team RadioShack, the squad created by seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, has released details of its rider roster for 2010.
The new ProTour outfit comprises of 26 riders from 16 different nations, and includes many of Armstrong's loyal team-mates from a variety of the Texan's former squads. It is headed up by former Astana, Discovery Channel and US Postal manager Johan Bruyneel.
"It is a well balanced team", said Bruyneel in a press statement. "We have experienced riders - with some of them I worked already many years in my former teams - but we also have young talents who can develop in the perfect environment."
Needless to say, the team is setting its sights on the 2010 Tour de France, where Armstrong will be setting out to win his eighth edition of the race - as well put one over on former Astana team-mate and 2009 Tour winner Alberto Contador. The spat between Armstrong and Contador during and after the 2009 Tour has been widely documented, and it lead directly to the splitting of the financially troubled Astana team and the creation of RadioShack.
No less than 12 members of Team RadioShack were part of Astana in 2009.
"Our main goal will be the Tour de France and other stage races but I am confident that, with these riders, we can perform very well in the one-day races as well," Bruyneel said.
It's not hard to see who Armstrong will be taking to the Tour - should RadioShack secure an invite to race. Andreas Klöden, Levi Leipheimer, Yaroslav Popovych, José Luis Rubiera and Haimar Zubeldia are all seasoned Tour riders and will undoubtedly be seen flanking Armstrong in the mountains in July.
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RadioShack have also signed up Tom Boonen's former QuickStep lead-out man and top sprinter in his own right, Gert Steegmans. If the Belgian is allowed some freedom at the Tour and a few riders to assist him in the bunch finishes, he could be mixing it up with Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) and Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) in the chase for stage wins.
The squad will have its first official get-together in Tucson, Arizona, on December 8.
Team RadioShack 2010
Riders
Lance Armstrong (USA)
Previous team: Astana
World ranking 2009: 31
Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan)
Previous team: Skil-Shimano
World ranking 2009: N/A
Sam Bewley (New Zealand)
Previous team: Trek (NZ)
World ranking 2009: N/A
Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia)
Previous team: Astana
World ranking 2009: 176
Matthew Busche (USA)
Previous team: Kelly Benefits Strategies
World ranking 2009: N/A
Ben Hermans (Belgium)
Previous team: Topsport Vlaanderen
World ranking 2009: N/A
Chris Horner (USA)
Previous team: Astana
World ranking 2009: N/A
Daryl Impey (South Africa)
Previous team: Barloworld
World ranking 2009: N/A
Markel Irizar (Spain)
Previous team: Euskaltel-Euskadi
World ranking 2009: N/A
Andreas Klöden (Germany)
Previous team: Astana
World ranking 2009: 13
Levi Leipheimer (USA)
Previous team: Astana
World ranking 2009: 63
Geoffroy Lequatre (France)
Previous team: Agritubel
World ranking 2009: N/A
Fuyu Li (China)
Previous team: Marco Polo
World ranking 2009: N/A
Tiago Machado (Portugal)
Previous team: Madeinox-Boavista
World ranking 2009: N/A
Jason McCartney (USA)
Previous team: Saxo Bank
World ranking 2009: N/A
Dmitriy Muravyev (Kazakhstan)
Previous team: Astana
World ranking 2009: N/A
Sérgio Paulinho (Portugal)
Previous team: Astana
World ranking 2009: N/A
Yaroslav Popovych (Ukraine)
Previous team: Astana
World ranking 2009: 139
Gregory Rast (Switzerland)
Previous team: Astana
World ranking 2009: 236
Sébastien Rosseler (Belgium)
Previous team: QuickStep
World ranking 2009: 267
Ivan Rovny (Russia)
Previous team: Katusha
World ranking 2009: N/A
José Luis Rubiera (Spain)
Previous team: Astana
World ranking 2009: N/A
Bjorn Selander (USA)
Previous team: Trek-Livestrong
World ranking 2009: N/A
Gert Steegmans (Belgium)
Previous team: Katusha
World ranking 2009: N/A
Tomas Vaitkus (Lithuania)
Previous team: Astana
World ranking 2009: N/A
Haimar Zubeldia (Spain)
Previous team: Astana
World ranking 2009: 44
Sports manager
Johan Bruyneel (Belgium)
Directeur Sportif
Dirk Demol (Belgium)
Alain Gallopin (France)
Viatcheslav Ekimov (Russia)
José Azevedo (Portugal)
Related links
RadioShack confirmed as new Armstrong sponsor
Lance Armstrong: Rider Profile
Contador sparks war of words with Armstrong
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