All over for Leopard Trek
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Translation on the press release
PROFESSIONAL Monday, September 5, 2011
It's official, Leopard and join RadioShack and RadioShack is born-Nissan-Trek (Extension)
The Leopard Trek and RadioShack will join next season, as confirmed by the Luxembourg group in a statement, and the name of the team will Nissan, RadioShack, Trek. The agreement is for two seasons, 2012 and 2013.
The first confirmed names are: Fabian Cancellara, Frank Schleck and Andy and Robert Wagner, by Leopard-Trek, and Andreas Klöden, Chris Horner, Janez Brajkovic, Nelson Oliveira and Matthew Busche of RadioShack.
Leopard license and maintain its headquarters in Luxembourg.
Official communiqué of Leopard:
Leopard RadioShack and Nissan announced that they join the team Leopard-Trek World Tour as sponsors for the years 2012 and 2013. Leopard will maintain its current license UCI World Tour. The team will be renamed to RadioShack and Nissan Cyclin-Trek Professional Team from next year.
The owner of the Leopard-Trek says: "As we said in January 2011 was our year of learning. We intend to improve our results. In modern cycling can not move forward without strong sponsors. In this sense this is a new milestone in the development of this interesting young project, which has earned the trust of two well-established players in the world of professional cycling. I still believe in the bright future of our athletes and have high expectations for the performance of this team. This is an important strategic step for all parties involved "
The team will continue to have headquarters in Luxembourg.
The triple world champion Fabian Cancellara and the Tour de France runner-up Andy and Frank Schleck will continue to lead the team in its ambitious plans for 2012 and 2013 seasons. They will join the Tour of California champion Chris Horner, twice second in the Tour de France, Andreas Klöden, and national champions Matthew Busche, Jani Brajkovic, Nelson Oliveira and Robert Wagner. The final formation will be announced in due time.
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http://leopardtrek.createsend3.com/t/Vi ... 23302FD418
LUXEMBOURG-BASED TEAM LEOPARD-TREK IS PROUD TO WELCOME RADIOSHACK AND NISSAN AS NEW MAIN SPONSORS.
Leopard announces that RadioShack and Nissan are joining the Leopard-Trek World Tour Team as sponsors for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Leopard will continue to hold its existing UCI World Tour License. The team will be rebranded as RadioShack-Nissan- Trek Professional Cycling Team as of next year.
Team Leopard owner Flavio Becca comments: “As we stated in January, 2011 would be our apprentice-year. We intend to improve upon our results. In modern cycling you cannot move forward without strong sponsors. It is in this respect that today is a further milestone in the development of this exciting young project, which has gained the trust of two well-established players in the world of professional cycling. I continue to believe in the bright future of our athletes and have high expectations for the performance of this team. This is a major strategic move for all partners involved.”
The team will continue to call Luxembourg its home.
Time trial World Champion Fabian Cancellara as well as Tour de France runners-up Andy and Fränk Schleck will continue to lead the team in its ambitious plans for the seasons 2012 and 2013. They will be joined by Tour of California Champion Chris Horner, two-time Tour de France runner-up Andreas Klöden, and National Champions Matthew Busche, Jani Brajkovic, Nelson Oliveira and Robert Wagner. The final line-up will be announced in due time.0 -
interesting that they are keeping the Leopard licence and base. Does this mean Bruyneel is still involved as DS ?0
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sherer wrote:interesting that they are keeping the Leopard licence and base. Does this mean Bruyneel is still involved as DS ?
Yes.. including his backroom boys.. I presume that RS were not going to be given a PT licence next year..
Sneaky fookin Prawns..
E2a: Actually.. Not sure about the Hog as there is no mention of staff etc, just sponsors..0 -
Doobz wrote:Time trial World Champion Fabian Cancellara as well as Tour de France runners-up Andy and Fränk Schleck will continue to lead the team in its ambitious plans for the seasons 2012 and 2013. They will be joined by Tour of California Champion Chris Horner, two-time Tour de France runner-up Andreas Klöden, and National Champions Matthew Busche, Jani Brajkovic, Nelson Oliveira and Robert Wagner. The final line-up will be announced in due time.
Did Leipheimer see the writing on the wall for his place as the Shacks leading GC contender, hence his bailing out?
The Hog will have mini Schleck on the top step of the podium in Paris in 2013 - probably by threatening to shoot Frank if Andy dares look around even once.'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'0 -
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The very thought of a shack/trek combo produces bits of sick in my mouth. Its unfortunate.0
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nissan coming on as a main sponsor from being a minor one on radioshack. mixed feelings but maybe a large global brand coming to cycling in a more significant role could be a good thing for cycling? it might encourage more big name brands to sign up for other teams (i remember hearing google-highroad as a possibility some months ago which i thought would have been very cool). it might have The Hog involved but nissan getting involved in a big way is better than Leopard-Lidl or something like that.
Feel free to shove this back in my face when Armstrong gets indicted and both Radioshack and Nissan scarper.0 -
Nissan coming in is good but Merc were sponsors of Leopard so they are going.
lets not drag LA into this thread.0 -
RichN95 wrote:B3rnieMac wrote:it might have The Hog involved but nissan getting involved in a big way is better than Leopard-Lidl or something like that.
Lidl are a huge company. One of the world's biggest retailers.
(A bit off topic there).
True, but they're hardly a Blue Chip company. Saying that, very few sports can attract these companies during the recession.All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."0 -
Am I alone in not particularly caring who sponsors the teams, so long as they pay their sponsorship, and are not extremely unethical companies who bring the sport into disrepute, who really cares?You live and learn. At any rate, you live0
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AndyRAC wrote:
True, but they're hardly a Blue Chip company. Saying that, very few sports can attract these companies during the recession.
The rumor said High Horse might have got a sponsorship from a supermarket chain. But I think if you look at a lot of the sponsors who've been around for a while they're slightly odd companies.
Lampre - sheet metal
Quick.Step - Flooring
Cofidis - Payday loans (nearly)Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
RichN95 wrote:B3rnieMac wrote:it might have The Hog involved but nissan getting involved in a big way is better than Leopard-Lidl or something like that.
Lidl are a huge company. One of the world's biggest retailers.
(A bit off topic there).
Lidl could be a good sponsor. Then they could have cycling clothing on sale 52 weeks of the year.0 -
iainf72 wrote:AndyRAC wrote:
True, but they're hardly a Blue Chip company. Saying that, very few sports can attract these companies during the recession.
The rumor said High Horse might have got a sponsorship from a supermarket chain. But I think if you look at a lot of the sponsors who've been around for a while they're slightly odd companies.
Lampre - sheet metal
Quick.Step - Flooring
Cofidis - Payday loans (nearly)
Don't forget Barloworld and also Lotto, as outside of Belgium i'm not sure if you can play their lottery.
As I said cycling is mainly sponsored by small firms who just want Euro coverage or even local coverage. I'm not sure if under the current model the world tour really works for all the teams0 -
I was being flippant when I said lidl, though leopard-lidl does have a nice ring to it. Like sherers point, lampre, quickstep, Barloworld etc are happy enough with their current exposure. Nissan could if they show wished, use the team in ads across the globe - well Europe AND the USA at least, which could encourage other big guns to pony up some money for other teams. just trying to stay positive about the whole thing....0
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radioSchleck?The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
Bruyneel confirmed as the boss.
Great.
It's such a GC heavy team now it's a bit silly.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
For me it's not so much who the sponsors are but two big teams from this season shrinking down to one. There just don't seem to be many sponsors around. I suppose the sport will always go on but the top league is not attracting many backers, is it?Jez mon wrote:Am I alone in not particularly caring who sponsors the teams, so long as they pay their sponsorship, and are not extremely unethical companies who bring the sport into disrepute, who really cares?0 -
Does the sport want to be a 'World' sport, or are the sponsors happy to stay in the sports heartlands? As somebody has already said, most of the sponsors are pretty 'small fry'.
But something is wrong when the most successful team, HTC-High Road, and a team which has challenged in classics and a GT's, Leopard-Trek - are basically no longer.All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."0 -
Or perhaps the similarity of two big teams folding (and maybe even to some degree Marc Coucke) is that the model of a team carried and guaranteed by a wealthy backer who wants another sponsor to continue financing the team in the long run doesn't really work.Kléber wrote:
For me it's not so much who the sponsors are but two big teams from this season shrinking down to one. There just don't seem to be many sponsors around. I suppose the sport will always go on but the top league is not attracting many backers, is it?Jez mon wrote:Am I alone in not particularly caring who sponsors the teams, so long as they pay their sponsorship, and are not extremely unethical companies who bring the sport into disrepute, who really cares?
It's not all doom and gloom - there is a large number of sponsors now that have been around for a very long time, at a guess more than was the case 10, 20 years ago0 -
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AndyRAC wrote:RichN95 wrote:B3rnieMac wrote:it might have The Hog involved but nissan getting involved in a big way is better than Leopard-Lidl or something like that.
Lidl are a huge company. One of the world's biggest retailers.
(A bit off topic there).
True, but they're hardly a Blue Chip company. Saying that, very few sports can attract these companies during the recession.
According to whom and be applying what criteria? They are successful, financially secure and well-established pan-European business. Yes, they are a discount retailer, so perhaps not 'sexy' in sponsorship terms. But then again, HTC, were a sexier, high-tech sponsor, who pulled the plug. There are plenty of companies, who outwardly appear successful, but actually aren't at all - it's all PR bluff.0 -
As someone whose job overlaps a bit with sports sponsorship,I can tell you that some of the reasons that sponsorships end aren't as rational as you might think. Even if a sponsor is perceived to have gotten excellent value out of a deal, a new person coming in at the top might simply not *get* cycling.
You have to remember that with the big global sponsors, the Nissans, Skys, have not only to be able to justify the cost of sponsoring a team, but also have to be able to identify a particular communications task or brand task that it delivers against. If you're a local or regional brand, like Quick Step, then it's easy - the sponsorship delivers brand awareness on an unprecedented scale in your key (only?) market... at a relatively low cost compared to advertising on TV 365 days a year. If you're a brand with huge global aspirations, mostly in markets where cycling is still a niche, if growing, property, then it becomes much more difficult to justify.0 -
This is all very well and good but we all want to know is what will happen to Linus Gerdemann'Do not compare your bike to others, for always there will be greater and lesser bikes'0
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Looks like he'll have to go back to being Hilary Swank's body double for the forseeable future. Tough gig.josame wrote:This is all very well and good but we all want to know is what will happen to Linus Gerdemann0 -
Bronzie wrote:
Looks like he'll have to go back to being Hilary Swank's body double for the forseeable future. Tough gig.josame wrote:This is all very well and good but we all want to know is what will happen to Linus Gerdemann
Nyvelocity tweeted duting the TdF "BTW, seeing Linus with his jersey open a few days ago was a real 'Crying Game' moment"'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'0 -
So, Leopard and Radioshack have been snuggling up to each other for a wee while, how many of their riders knew what was going on? Levi presumably knew and decided to jump ship, how many others?
They've brought Nissan on board, which is Good, but if Nissan had the cash to invest, surely Cuddly Bob would have already knocked on their door earlier this year. Or was he so smitten by Google that he was prepared to wait until the bitter end to find out they weren't going to walk down the aisle with him?
I find this merger deeply depressing. Bruyneel will be able to get his paws on Baby Schleck who will stun everyone with his newly found TTing next summer somewhere in France.
And on the Lidl note, I dreamt last night that I was appointed to manage the new super-team, Rapha-Lidl and was in the nearest Lidl with all my heroes choosing their clothing for next season. We were making a terrible mess of the bins with all the cycling stuff in them- it was strewn everywhere. I was trying to encourage them not to strip stark naked in front of all the shoppers (who were all members of Presbytery) when the manager of Rapha, a robot-android, came in and demanded that they all wear Rapha until I offered to make him a lemon drizzle cake and then the alarm went off.0
