Bicycle Racing News and Opinion
Saturday, December 20, 2014

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Lance Armstrong Associates Settle with Floyd Landis

USA Today reported that two of Lance Armstrong's business associates have come to an agreement to pay the federal government a half-million dollars, and former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis' attorney $100K to settle the whistleblower lawsuit Floyd Landis filed.

Rather than my retelling it, here's the story in USA Today

Tinkoff-Saxo Presents 2015 Squad

Here's the Tinkoff-Saxo press release:

Moscow, Russia – 19 December 2014.
Today, the head office of Tinkoff Bank in Moscow played host to a presentation by the Russian professional cycling team Tinkoff–Saxo, which showcased its brand new 2015 team kit.

In 2015, along with the Russian national flag, the team kit features the name Tinkoff in Cyrillic.

Participating in the event were Oleg Tinkov, the owner of Tinkoff–Saxo, Bjarne Riis, the team’s manager, Oliver Hughes, Chairman of the Management Board at Tinkoff Bank, Lars Christensen, CEO of Saxo Bank, and Simone Toccafondi of Specialized. They reviewed the team’s 2014 performance and outlined the plans for the upcoming season.

2015 Tinkoff-Saxo kit

Oleg Tinkov: “I am excited to be part of this major event: it is the first time ever that Russia welcomes five top-class cyclists coming here together. I am proud that over the past year, we have successfully built a true dream team with great team spirit. Fans all over the world support the team, whose kit now features the flag of Russia and as well as Tinkoff Bank script in Cyrillic. We managed to create the strongest team by selecting riders who we believe are best in class and by investing in new technologies.”

Oliver Hughes: “The Tinkoff–Saxo team relies on a unique combination of resources provided by the two most innovative banks and the strongest potential of athletes. In Russia, cycling is only beginning to gain ground while in England it has been extremely popular for the past 10 years. I am happy to see that the partnership between Tinkoff Bank and the team gives us an exciting opportunity to make history and become a trend setter in Russia. We are happy to be associated with the cycling sport as we see it as a valuable brand asset for Tinkoff Bank with the great potential in this country.We are proud of this season’s achievements and are convinced that our collaboration will help the Russian team secure the first place in the world of cycling in 2015.”

Lars Christensen: “The collaboration we have with Tinkoff Bank and the team is a privilege. It’s terrific that our business is a part of the project we are truly proud of. I have every confidence that our combined efforts will bring us high-profile victories and help promote professional and amateur cycling in Russia.”

Bjarne Riis: “I’m happy we have full understanding with Oleg Tinkov about the essence of the team. Throughout the season we stick together and we fight together no matter what. We are ready for 2015 year, and our motivation, ambitions and team spirit has never been stronger. I am sure that our riders will grow even more popular and become the most frequently seen team on all podiums. We are happy to have come to Russia as part of this extended team for the first time. We are collaborating with the most innovative Russian bank and I can confidently state that today, we are the most innovative peloton team as we are one of the pioneers in extensive use of big data. The technologies and developments we apply enable 24/7 monitoring of physical changes in each cyclist during training and races. We have accumulated a unique database and its analysis helps us adjust our strategy and tactics. This competitive advantage will make Tinkoff–Saxo a true breakthrough in 2015.”

The guests and journalists appreciated meeting Alberto Contador, winner of Vuelta a España, Rafal Majka, the King of the Mountains of Tour de France 2014, Peter Sagan, the winner of the green jersey for being the best sprinter of Tour de France 2014, as well as Nikolay Trusov and Pavel Brutt, well-known Russian cyclists. Just before the presentation the riders visited the Red Square and the Kremlin.

Alberto Contador: “We are happy to present this very team in Moscow today. We can feel the support from our Russian fans and will do everything to meet their expectations. We hope that this Tinkoff–Saxo presentation will become an annual tradition and we will see each other and many more people next year.”

Peter Sagan: “Tinkoff–Saxo today is not just the most high tech team equipped with the latest technologies. Oleg unites us and gives opportunities to become even better in what we do. The team boasts a great morale and a very strong team spirit. Oleg brings us together and inspires us to go further. We are sure that the new season will prove us truly unbeatable.”

2015 Lotto-Soudal Team Presentation

I just got this press release from Lotto-Soudal:

Yesterday was the official start of Lotto Soudal, with the team presentation in Turnhout. The audience could admire the new shirt for the first time. Lotto and Soudal are at the beginning of a six-year collaboration. ‘Live Your Dream’ remains the team slogan. At the presentation a new partner was introduced, Vasco Data Security. Their brand mydigipass.com will be placed on the back of the race shorts
Talent in the picture

2015 Lotto-Soudal team kit

The evening started with a review of the most important moments of this season. Then André Greipel, Tony Gallopin and Jens Debusschere had the honour to be the first to show the new jerseys on stage. The team presentation was built around the concept ‘talent’. Neo-pros of 2014 Stig Broeckx, Sean De Bie and Boris Vallée gave their impressions of the first year and looked ahead to the new season. Tiesj Benoot and Louis Vervaeke came on stage together with Tim Wellens. Newcomers Jasper De Buyst and Thomas De Gendt were officially presented and shared their expectations with the audience. Between the different chats there were fun movies. During the training camp in Benicàssim the riders were asked questions of Twitter followers. That way the audience now knows the favourite beer of Lars Bak.

Ladies and U23
Of course there was room for the women’s and U23 team as well. Jessie Daams and Italian champion Elena Cecchini represented the Lotto Soudal Ladies. Kenneth Van Rooy, winner of the Top competition 2014, and Enzo Wouters represented the youth team. 

The partners
Apart from the riders also representatives of the sponsors came on stage, just like team manager Marc Sergeant. The story of Soudal began in 2013, as a temporary partnership in the Tour. This year the company took a prominent place on the shorts during the whole season and now they become name sponsor. Soudal signed for a project of six years. Exceptional, but evident according to them. The place of Soudal on the shorts will be taken over by mydigipass.com, a brand of Vasco Data Security. They are pleased to become partner of this team. At Ridley Bikes they are proud as well, as a Belgian bike brand, to be part of this solid Belgian project. Marc Frederix, marketing director of the National Lottery, dreams of seeing the ‘L’ – referring to the slogan ‘Live Your Dream’ – many times as victory sign in 2015.

Christmas song
At the end of the team presentation the audience was treated to a Christmas song, performed by the Lotto choir and written for the team. Lotto Soudal is ready for 2015. Riders, staff and partners start this project with lots of ambitions and dreams.

BMC Team News

And this came from BMC:

The BMC Racing Team formally announced its roster for the 2015 season Wednesday while also revealing that Rohan Dennis will make an attempt at the world hour record in February.

Eight Riders New To The Team
Runner-up in the 2014 WorldTour standings and winners of the UCI world team time trial championship, the BMC Racing Team won a team-record 30 races for the second straight season. Headlining the list of returning riders is 2009 world road champion and 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans, who has announced he will retire Feb. 1 to work for the team's title sponsor, BMC Switzerland. Also back are all six members of the team's gold medal-winning team time trial squad: Dennis, Silvan Dillier, Daniel Oss, Manuel Quinziato, Tejay van Garderen and Peter Velits. Joining them is 2012 world road champion Philippe Gilbert, who won a team-best seven races last year, GP de Wallonie winner Greg Van Avermaet, and a pair of reigning national time trial champions, Taylor Phinney (United States) and Velits (Slovakia). Eight riders are new to the team, including Under 23 world time trial champion Campbell Flakemore of Australia. Evans headlines the team's line-up for the season-opening WorldTour event, the Santos Tour Down Under, Jan. 17-25. Joining him will be Dennis, Dillier, Flakemore, past Swiss national road champion Michael Schär, Peter Stetina and Danilo Wyss.

Goals Include Classics Win
BMC Racing Team President/General Manager Jim Ochowicz said the team's objectives for 2015 begin with carrying momentum over from successes this season, which included the team's first classics win by Gilbert at Amstel Gold Race. "We want to go back to the classics and bring home another victory – and possibly a second," Ochowicz said. "We also have grand tour ambitions with Tejay van Garderen. We would like to elevate him to another level at the Tour de France and get him on the podium in 2015. Our third priority is with our younger riders. We want to continue to develop those guys by giving them experience, confidence and opportunities to grow their careers. The future of our organization lies with that group." BMC Racing Team Sporting Manager Allan Peiper said 2015 will be a year of transition. "We lose some of our GC (general classification) riders with Cadel Evans and Samuel Sánchez, but we bring on a whole new fleet of young riders who give us a great cross-section of different abilities," Peiper said. "Campbell Flakemore and Stefan Küng are really good time trialists, Manuel Senni is a great climber and Dylan Teuns can ride the Ardennes classics. So we have a good spread of riders, not to replace the GC riders we are missing, but they are our new generation. We go into 2015 with a lot of positive energy and a younger crew on board."

Record Attempt At Velodrome Suisse
On Feb. 8 at the Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen, Switzerland, Dennis will try to better the current hour record of 51.852 kilometers by Matthias Brändle. An Olympic silver medalist for Australia in the team pursuit in London in 2012, Dennis said he is a bit nervous, but very much up to the challenge. "When I look at my experience on the track and the numbers I have been doing on the track and on the road, it is within reach," he said. "As long as I don't get too excited at the start and control my nerves, the pacing will take care of itself." Peiper said planning for the attempt began shortly after Dennis helped win the world team time trial. "We have been working on it, taking all the circumstances into consideration,” he said. “This is something Rohan really wants to do. Part of our development for him is to support him in the things he wants to achieve. So that is the main reason we are doing it."

2015 BMC Racing Team Rider Roster:
Darwin Atapuma (COL), Brent Bookwalter (USA), Marcus Burghardt (GER), Damiano Caruso (ITA), Alessandro De Marchi (ITA), Rohan Dennis (AUS), Silvan Dillier (SUI), Jempy Drucker (LUX), Cadel Evans (AUS), Campbell Flakemore (AUS), Philippe Gilbert (BEL), Ben Hermans (BEL), Stefan Küng (SUI), Klaas Lodewyck (BEL), Amaël Moinard (FRA), Daniel Oss (ITA), Taylor Phinney (USA), Manuel Quinziato (ITA), Joey Rosskopf (USA), Michael Schär (SUI), Manuel Senni (ITA), Peter Stetina (USA), Dylan Teuns (BEL), Greg Van Avermaet (BEL), Tejay van Garderen (USA), Peter Velits (SVK), Danilo Wyss (SUI), Rick Zabel (GER).

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