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.
Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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