Cav to announce 2012 team...?

(© Mogens Engelund CC3.0)

Are we about to finally find out with which team new World Champion Mark Cavendish will be riding in 2012 following the unfortunate demise of HTC-Highroad? Rumours are circulating that we'll be enlightened at some point in the very near future, following Team Sky's conformation that whilst they have established an "oral contract," they do not have a signed contract with the rider on Tuesday morning (4th October).

For several weeks now, the greater part of the cycling world has considered it all but a foregone conclusion that he'll be going to Team Sky. However, some of those rumours this morning suggest otherwise, hinting that it could be Quick-Step who will be merging with Omega Pharma-Lotto to form Omega Pharma Quick-Step in the new year. The Belgian Gazet van Antwerpen newspaper carries quotes it arrtibutes to an anonymous Sky employee who says that "recently, we're not so certain that he'll ride for us next year. Apparently, a few things have changed since he became World Champion in Copenhagen."

One of those factors would be likely to be Quick-Step's recent decision to begin using Specialized bikes, which Mark rode so successfully with Highroad, rather than Eddy Merckx machines - Sky will remain with Pinarello until at least the end of the current three-year contract between the team and supplier. While it might at first seem that Cav is the reason for the change in supplier rather than vice-versa - manufacturers being well aware of the exposure they receive from high-profile riders, thus driving Specialized to cut the team a good deal in order to keep Cav aboard their bikes - respected blogger Inrng notes that a previous press release announcing the new deal on Specialized's website has mysteriously vanished, suggesting that they plan to re-announce it with more of a fanfare if Cav is indeed now onboard.

Were this to be the case, it would come as blessed relief to other teams - a Sky with a Missile flying within it would be an all but unstoppable force with the potential to dominate Grand Tours for the next few years; Omega Pharma Quick-Step, as a new team with several riders who have not worked together, would likely be weaker than the tried, tested and entrenched Sky line-up, and as such would be seen as more manageable even with Cav among the ranks.

Lefevre is either ignoring the rumours or
keeping his cards close to his chest
(© McSmit CC3.0)

Quick-Step currently has a full roster, meaning that one rider would have to be ejected to make room for the Manx sprinter. That could mean a costly breach of contract if nobody wants to go voluntarily, but it's a price the team might consider worth paying in order to secure him - manager Patrick Lefevre seems keen to scotch the rumours, though: "Will Cavendish next year be in my cycling team?" says the Belgian ex-professional. "I wish - but I have thirty riders under contract.”

Later in the day, news broke that Davide Malacarne would be leaving Quick-Step for Europcar - thus solving the 30 rider problem if the rumours turn out to be true.

Meanwhile, equally unconfirmed rumours stemming from a report in the Dutch De Telegraaf newspaper claim that Joost Posthuma, one of the Leopard Trek riders that have fallen prey to the Leopard-RadioShack union, may be about to announce a new contract with GreenEDGE. The Australian team, formed in January this year, is  almost certain to gain a UCI World Tour licence for 2012 - allowing them to race in the  Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana in addition to the other 24 races in the series.

The world awaits with baited breath...

A sad final note for Highroad

Highroad boss Bob Stapleton has
done more than most to rid the
sport he loves of doping

Few teams took such far-reaching steps to stamp out doping when it first became apparent that the practice was going to kill cycling as did HTC-Highroad. In fact, despite the still-persistent druggy image of the sport, Bob Stapleton's team has been nothing less than an example of how things needed to be done; not just in the professional cycling world but in all sports. Thus, it's nothing short of an ironic tragedy that the men's team will cease to exist at the end of the current season, due in large part to the unwillingness of potential sponsors to attach their names to cycling because of that image.

However, it seems that the team's exemplary record, now that the end is so near, may be shaken; through no fault of their own but by one single rider - Alex Rasmussen, the Danish track specialist taken on by the team from SaxoBank-Sungard for 2011 and who was due to go to Garmin-Cervelo for 2012, who missed an anti-doping control test earlier this summer and as such broke the team's internal rules which state that all riders on the books must comply with UCI requirements 100% and which led to his immediate dismissal from the team. Closer investigation, with UCI confirmation, revealed that Rasmussen had also missed two tests in 2010, but Highroad had not been informed of this when it signed the rider. He will also now no longer be representing his country at this year's World Championships.

Rasmussen, when racing for SaxoBank (when two of the
missed controls occurred) (CC3.0)

What matters most for the 27-year-old now is when the earlier incidents took place - the rule is, if a rider misses three controls within an 18-month period, he or she faces official sanction and a ban of up to two years. That's not the end of the world for a rider his age - he'd return, just as many other riders returned, still only 29 and with a good few years ahead of him.

The greatest and worst effect is, once again, on cycling's image. Many people with little knowledge of cycling will have almost subconsciously absorbed the news that Highroad's at the end of the road but won't be aware why. Now, when they see this story - and they will, because the press just love to print stories on doping in cycling - they'll automatically link the team's demise with Rasmussen's selfish decision to dope. They'll nod knowingly over their cornflakes and think to themselves, "Ah, I knew it! They're all at it!"

Thus all Stapleton's good work is undone, just a little more each time it happens; and other potential sponsors back away, unwilling to attach their names to a sport with a bad image among the mis-informed non-cycling public to whom the names on the jerseys have to appeal if the millions they would otherwise have ploughed into sport are to be worthwhile; because cycling fans, who would have read beyond the headline and got the full story, are a tiny minority.

Cheers, Alex. Nice one. Don't expect a warm welcome in two years' time if you get a ban.

End of the Highroad?

While winning time and time again,
Highroad has always worked hard to
improve professional cycling in any
way possible. They will be much missed
and their absence sorely felt.

Highroad's ongoing sponsorship problems have been no secret, with team boss Bob Stapleton uncharacteristically openly admitting some time ago that he was having difficulty securing a financial backer for next season. The team - partly because of the popularity of Stapleton himself, partly because of the popularity of the riders and partly because of the most impressive team palmares in professional cycling - has been one of the most admired by fans throughout its history, and so the cycling world as a whole breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced that negotiations with a potential new sponsor were positive.

Sadly, that deal fell through and HTC have confirmed that they will no longer work with the team - precisely why this should be is not yet known, but it has been suggested that "ongoing drugs scandals" are the cause. Stapleton made an official announcement yesterday, saying: "After an exhaustive search to secure long term sponsorship we have concluded that it's time to release our team members to pursue other options." He added, "an agreement with a new partner looked to be in place, but the deal collapsed Sunday night when they called me during my wife's 50th birthday party."

The team's highest profile rider, British sprinter Mark Cavendish who won the final stage of the Tour de France a few weeks ago, is said to be heart-broken by the news. Cavendish has raced for the team, which has earned a reputation for discovering and developing new talents, ever since it grew out of the T-Mobile team in 2008 and has become recognised as the best sprinter in the world whilst with them, personally responsible for a large share of the men's team's many victories.

"I am hugely indebted and incredibly grateful to my teammates and all the staff for their support over the last five years and I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together," he told reporters.

Stapleton hopes the Highroad
women's team will continue.

Highroad is one of the very few teams to place as much emphasis on its female riders as its male stars, ploughing serious resources into their development and reaping the rewards in the form of numerous triumphs.  Stapleton, who personally financed the embryonic Highroad between November 2007 and June 2008, is hopeful that he'll be able to keep the women's team on the road. Women's cycling has long suffered from sponsorship problems, so it is to be hoped that Stapleton and Highroad will continue opening doors for young talent that might never get the opportunity to progress. The continuation of the women's team also leaves the possibility that, should they continue bringing in the trophies - and with riders such as Ina-Yoko Teutenberg, Judith Arndt and Katie Colclaugh on the roster there's no reason to suggest they won't - we might one day see a new sponsor put up funds, allowing a new men's team to rise from the ashes. It wouldn't be the first time Stapleton had turned disaster into success.

It is depressing that would-be backers are still claiming doping as the reason when they pull out of sponsoring teams. Following the dark days of EPO, the Festina Affair and Operation Puerto, cycling has done more than any other sport to stamp out the problem - with Highroad doing more than most, striving to be drug-free and sacking riders who tested positive as long ago as 2007 before it became the norm. Unfortunately, it seems that the druggy image that somehow became attached to cycling remains in place, despite evidence that fewer cyclists use performance-enhancing drugs than do athletes in many other sports.

End of the road for Highroad?

HTC-Highroad owner Bob Stapleton has warned that his team will no longer exist come the end of the year because of difficulties in finding a sponsor - and he blames doping scandals for those difficulties.

"We have a lot to offer," he told Road.cc, "but we have to shout that story out over the controversy that seems to surround the sport." Although none of the team's riders have been caught doping since Highroad grew out of the scandal-rocked T-Mobile in 2007, cycling in general has earned a reputation for being riddled with widespread doping among the public and that shady image makes potential sponsors nervous about committing the sort of money - around 10 million euros - that a team needs to enter the three Grand Tours.

Highroad has long provided an opportunity for
young talents like 21-year-old Leigh Howard to
learn from the big-hitters on the team and thus
realise their full potential.

Even if HTC does withdraw support and Highroad can find a replacement, Stapleton may find himself without any riders. Reports are flying around the Internet and cycling press that Mark Cavendish will be leaving the team for Team Sky, with many people expecting confirmation once riders are permitted to discuss such matters come August - any degree of uncertainty will see other members, including Tony Martin and Tejay van Garderen, making exploratory approaches to other teams and they may receive more tempting offers.

Highroad have been one of the most successful teams in cycling with their male and female riders achieving an astonishing 462 victories between them since 2008. Stapleton has long had a policy of supporting young talent, giving several younger riders who might have had difficulties getting a place on other teams the opportunity to realise their potential and for that reason alone the organisation's demise would be detrimental to the sport.
.