US pro cycling takes some huge hits

[cameraman]

2011 has been a fantastic year for pro cycling in the US with four major teams, HTC, RadioShack, BMC and Garmin-Cervelo. Too bad 2012 does not look so good. We have already lost HTC with the loss of sponsorship resulting in the team disbanding at the end of 2011. Now we lose RadioShack too. As of next year Team RadioShack and Leopard-Trek will combine into a single team based out of Luxembourg. It will be quite the powerful team but it will be one team where there was once two and it will no longer be an American team. Half the riders/crew across both teams will get laid off.

The riders signed so far are:

Fabian Cancellara ex-LT
Andy Schleck ex-LT
Fränk Schleck ex-LT
Chris Horner ex-RS
Andreas Klöden ex-RS
Matthew Busche ex-RS
Jani Brajkovic ex-RS
Nelson Oliveira ex-RS
Robert Wagner ex-RS
Jesse Sergent ex-RS
Ben King ex-RS
Jakob Fuglsang ex-LT
Haimar Zubeldia ex-RS
Daniele Bennati ex-LT

You'll note Levi Leipheimer is missing.

They will be operating under Leopard-Trek's UCI license, the US team will disappear. The new name will be RadioShack-Nissan-Trek.

[Tifosi24]

Certainly a hit losing Radioshack, but I am not totally shocked. Once Lance retired, it was almost like Radioshack only paid to have their logo put on the jerseys and nothing else. Leipheimer being left off the team isn't a major shock either. He is still an outside GC threat under the right circumstances, and he certainly can still win one week stage races, and that doesn't work with a Schleck brother team. I like the Schleck brothers, but it is clear management knows where the future is. I am not convinced of this, since these two won't be able to win a grand tour GC, against the current competition, unless they can dramatically improve their time trial form. I think I have watched five or six time trials with Andy Schleck this season, and he has been below elite level, or simply average, each time.

[cameraman]

I'm more worried about the races. The Amgen Tour of Cali, the Tour of Utah and the Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado had fantastic crowds this year thanks in no small part in fan interest in HTC and RadioShack. Will RadioShack-Nissan-Trek send teams to the US races with the intent to win as opposed to just meeting their UCI requirements?

[Napoleon]

Yeah, but I bet they didn't take a hit like this:

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[Andrew Longman]

Yeah, but I bet they didn't take a hit like this:Wow. That nearly happened to me riding on a road along the Delaware about 6 am a few years back. A deer (buck) came down the embankment, out of the woods and leaped right over my bike. I didn't see him until he was right above me.

I don't think he was attacking me though, just spooked. This looked like an act of aggression.

Wear a helmet.:thumbup: