Tim Vanderjeugde, spokesman for Leopard Trek, said “On the team's behalf, I can flatly deny that there is a merger with Radioshack," and I said - in a post that [luckily] I didn't get time to finish last night - that that was good enough for me.
Oh dear, I was wrong, and Tim V is no longer to be considered worthy of any respect, should we ever hear from him again. I suppose he was only saying what he was told to, but it's pretty poor to flatly deny something less than a fortnight before announcing that it's true.
So, our own website confirms it, and we are now going to be operating under the clunky name of RadioShack-Nissan-Trek.
So what happens to the trademark?
If this means no more logo I will be spitting mad, as I have it all over the backs of all of my work shirts!
And it means a new kit, damn, damn, I was just getting used to the stripes (*throws down half-made Leopard-Trek flag in annoyance - yes, Jolanda, I hadn't quite finished it, thank you for asking - and wonders if it's worth finishing it, just for the one race*).
And I know we are all thinking this, so I might as well say it up here as well as below - this is a pretty shabby way to go about any sort of changes to your new team, not telling the actual riders or the staff.
These are all people who threw up perfectly good jobs and contracts with other teams to come to the Leopard-Trek fold.
They gave up their futures (known or unknown) and their history and their loyalty to their old teams.
And now, barely a year into it, all change: and they weren't even told about it.
That's pretty disgraceful. And as for the business of l'Equippe publishing a list of riders who they thought were going to be thrown out, well, that is just disgusting, and there is no excuse for the Leopard-Trek management for not handling that side of things properly.
It's all very well to call it a merger - RadioShack were in deep trouble and were folding, there is no denying that, so it's not a merger, Leopard are taking over the Shack team. I notice that the press release phrases it that the two sponsors, Shack and Nissan, are joining team Leopard. So why do 11 of the Leopard riders automatically get the shove - publicly - when surely the bulk of the shoving should be to the Shack riders?
I think that we, the fans, are entitled to grumble at this point: we, too, brought our loyalty to the new team, and supported them, even through the stupid LAY-oh-pard pronunciation fiasco, and we are rewarded by having our new team chopped up and relabelled before we even get into our second year.
As I see it, the only good thing about this whole affair is that Nissan are coming on board. (Says she, former Nissan employee and big-time supporter of the brand.) So I can look forward to seeing Nissan across various Schleck-flavoured backsides.
a bad deed at all.....no words to describe...I mean, all that mess around, so proud ( sometimes pretentious) to set up a new team , but not just a team..a legend, a new philosopy in racing ("leopard, true racing"), the new era of cycling dome....and now????leopard became a symbol, it established a feeling of membership ( also increased by a damn'd tragedy)!they got their purpose and now they sell out everything: logo, riders, staff...and credibility! dear, mr Becca, u are used to take care of business and , I can't deny, u'd be very good doing this..but, pleazz, cycling is a different deed, it involves respect, loyalty, faith!u think fans to be happy and proud of their team just because they read top riders will be, no doubt, part of the new team!!no,dear, u are wrong!!'coz we love sport, and our thoughts goes to the other riders who are going to loose their contract!sport is not just a deed of numbers!u own a team but u have never understood anything about what to be a team means,sorry!
ReplyDeleteclaudia
I agree with everything you've written Coug. I find the whole merger/takeover really annoying. How terrible for the riders and staff to find out this way. Kim Andersen only found out after a Danish tv reporter told him! (I hope things are ok between Andersen and the brothers...) I think for fans it's disappointing to see LT going through such major changes after only one year, and esp. after having to go through the whole Sexybank implosion last year and the subsequent drawn out PR stuff from LT. If it weren't for the Schlecks, Fabu and Voigt I would probably find my interest in LT really really waning. A
ReplyDeleteSERENITY NOW!!
ReplyDeleteI never liked Radioshack.. and now I like them even less (I never thought it'd be possible, but yes). It really feels like they are taking over, not that they are merging.. they just come and throw out a bunch of riders and staff and pretend like nothing happened. The Leopard team was actually a team of riders working together - having a good time besides their focus on winning races. Radioshack.. just wants to win, win, win. Apparently that Leopard-boss-with-the-big-money-whatever-his-name-is-I-don't-remember-right-now is all about that too, already letting others take over in order to make his team more succesful.. but the team is only 1 year old.. jees, have some patience.
ReplyDeleteNow, to be honest, Leopard isn't one of my favorite teams, but I like a lot of the riders and they don't deserve this. Especially being kept in the dark for so long.. :(
Well, I just had to get that off my chest ;) I wish the riders who get to stay lots of luck with Bruyneel.. they need it.
Oh, and of course I wish all the riders and staff members who are going to loose their contract and/or job lots of luck with finding a new (respectful) team!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cyclingnews.com/news/feillu-in-the-dark-over-leopard-trek-radioshack-merger
ReplyDeleteI just feel so sorry for all the riders and staff! This whole thing has been very poorly handled. A
Who the hell had this idea? And WHY???
ReplyDeleteI wasn't happy at all when the whole everyone-leave-Saxobank-and-create-a-new-team story began last summer, but this merger with radioshack and the way it happened, it's simply disgusting.
Oh, and I have a big dilemma now: I never liked RS and Bruynel. How can I like leopard with radioshack?
Yes, I'm angry >:(
Narce
We've known Leopard was looking for a title sponsor, that shouldn't be surprising. Becca's 4 years was apparently conditional, and Nyagaard didn't manage to secure an important deal. Business is business. I don't mind the acquisition of RadioShack sponsors and riders. What I can't get behind is the lack of respect to the riders and team staff. It's understandable if they can't communicate changes publicly while negotiations are taking place, but tell your riders for crying out loud! L'Equipe basically forced their hand. :-/
ReplyDeleteCoug, your angry logo is cracking me up!
Thanks Gnasher, it's good to get at least one laugh from today!
ReplyDeleteI think we are all saying the same things, and I hope that there are ears burning in Lux and the US today.
I'm not particularly pro-Shack, (although I do love shouting "Up the R's!" when they appear on tv, snigger snigger) but I'm becoming violently anti-Shack at the way they have hijacked Leopard's name completely.
And I fail to see why Team Leopard should take on their Livestrong mantle. Let Lance keep that - far better for Lux not to get involved. Just in case.
Coug
I also agree with all you've written Copug. This was handled terribly: rumour, rumour, deny, deny - confirm. A simple "no comment" would have been better than a denial. It makes them look like liars or idiots, or both.
ReplyDeleteIt was terrible treatment for the riders. It is bad enough when you are a 9-5er and your company has a merger or takeover, but this is more than a job for these guys, it is a way of life. Half the mechanics, soigneurs, etc will be screwed too. And what about Jens?
It seems most of the Shack fans as well as the LT fans seem ticked off. They want the team to remain a US team and are relating the departure of Levi to this. Maybe he had prior knowledge?? And why is Livestrong still involved? It seems more like a takeover than a merger.
The only bright spot I see, is there are 2 open slots now with the departure of HTC as well. One for Greenedge presumably, and maybe Geox? I don't understand the licensing rules.
emjay
I am really grateful to hear other's are upset about this - I was surprised at the great sadness I felt upon realizing this nightmare was actually true!
ReplyDeleteI am not OK with Johan B as a DS. Do I want him anywhere near the Schlecks or Jakob? NO!
And Jens...we don't even get a farewell year for Jens? That just sucks!
The horrid treatment of the riders who will suffer (or have suffered while waiting and wondering) has me yelling FOUL - loudly. I've lost respect for LT in how this was handled.
Bad Karma - and they should step far, far away from anything LA has been involved with.
I just don't understand - and will JB even be available for very long? He and LA may be "vacationing" soon as November! WTF??
BE
Hey Coug, I just noticed my typo. Copug??? So sorry.
ReplyDeleteEmjay
Last year after Contador joining B. Riis, I was expecting JB to come over to the Lux (no name yet) team. At that moment I really thought it would be the only way for OGL to ever win the TdF. It didn't happen then and LT started and my feeling was good.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm just upset, feeling so sorry for the riders/helpers/staff who have to go, especially without being properly informed beforehand.
But..., there's still a disturbing voice in the back of my head that's whispering "it's the only way if he wants to win".
I'm wondering who is speaking.....
Barbara (I have to post as an ano. cause there's something wrong with logging in with gmail????)
This whole affair has been handled so badly, that I would not be surprised if Brian Nygaard failed to find employment in another team: either as team manager, or as overseer of team PR, he has utterly, utterly, failed.
ReplyDeleteAllowing your riders to find out through the internet that they are being "let go" (a euphamism which I particularly hate) is about as low as it gets.
At this moment, lacking any real facts, I am blaming Mr Becca (the rich man) for this fiasco: he put up the money, he guaranteed 4 years of backing, he said "we don't need sponsors".
And now he has, for all intents and purposes, sold his team to the Shack. Who are keeping their name, no doubt the new kit will be a lot closer to theirs than to ours, and they are keeping all their riders, but throwing out 11 or so of ours.
Today's news reports are talking about the "new super team".
Well, it will be "super" on paper, that's for sure: it should be the World Number 2 team before it even starts (BMC will be 1) but will it work as a team? Will our boys enjoy working with Mr Bruyneel, and the Shack "oldies"?
And what about Ken and the Leopard True Racing boys? Out on their backsides? Bruyneel's company, CSE Pro Cycling LLC, are going to be running the team, according to the Shack website - based in Lux. I don't think Shack will put up with that for long, do you?
They are a US firm, as are Trek, and I think before the summer they will have moved operations to the US. So the Schlecks will have to leave their little home country, for the first time, and will have to live abroad for long periods, as most other pro riders do. (Cav has a home in Italy, where he trains.)
There are so many things wrong with this situation that I could go on all day, but I won't.
However, as mentioned in the post, I do feel that we, the fans, have a legitimate right to grumble about this.
Coug
PS If you are feeling strong, have a trawl through Bruyneel's website at http://www.johanbruyneel.com/about/bio.html
ReplyDeleteHe has a pretty good opinion of himself!
And he lives in London.......
I'm sorry but cycling isn´t about making friends and family it's about winning races and right now we have a new "super" team that can spice up all the races for next season. So some people got sc**** in the process, that's life. It happens in any other line of work everyday. I understand that you're upset about the way the merge was handled, but seriously, do you think that Andy and Frank made that call. They are as replaceble as any other rider when it comes down to the end. If they don't deliver they're out. If you're upset with anybody blame that Flavio guy, but on the other hand he's in it to make money and if he want's to make money that way that's his decision. We have a saying in my country which translates into something like this; it's you who have to look yourself in the mirror everyday and it's you who decied if you can stand the person looking back at you.
ReplyDeleteAs for Andy and Frank, I can only hope they can stand the look of themself in the mirror and that they give ur some really exciting races for next season.
(I'm sorry about the spelling, it has always been a huge problem of mine but I hope you can read it anyway)
And I don't mean to offend anybody I'm just of the oppinion that I you want to be the best you have to work with the best.
//Aitra
Aitra, thank you for your comments. Please see my next post, where I clarify my opinion; the whole point of Mr Becca was that he was NOT in it to make money, he wanted to spend some of his considerable fortune on being the patron of a cycling team.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that "super" teams is the right way to go. It leads to situations where the same team wins every race, and that gets, frankly, a bit dull.
Nissan, for whom I used to work, sponsored BTCC for some years. They were superbly successful - they won every race, they won the constructors' championship, until the other sponsors started dropping out and half the teams disappeared. There is no point being a sponsor in a field where one person wins all the time.
In the same way, this year's Giro got pretty damn dull, with Conti 5 minutes in the lead all the way through. This year's Vuelta, on the other hand, is edge-of-the-seat stuff, as we have no idea who is going to win the jerseys each day!
Returning to Aitra's comments, yes, we are all desperatly upset about the way the merger was handled, as are all right-thinking people. Allowing your staff to read it on the internet is quite despicable.
Again, the point is that such behaviour is what we reluctantly expect from big corporations, not from a friend-of-the-family individual patron.
I don't think that either myself, or anyone else here, has ever suggested that Andy and Frank even knew about it, let alone contributed to the discussion. They (and the whole team, riders, mechanics, soigneurs etc) seem to be being treated as toys, or merchandise, to be bought or sold, or - in the case of the Desperate 11 - thrown away.
"If they don't deliver, they're out", you said. Not quite sure what you meant, as Andy is standing 9th in the UCI individual ratings, Frankie is 7th. The Lux team - number 1 in the team rankings - have 949 points, of which Andy, Frankie and Fabu contribute 786. I can't accept that as "not delivering"!
I have read some speculation on Twitter - which I would remind you all is like talking loudly on a bus ("anyone can say anything, anyone can listen, but mostly no-one takes any notice of you") - that Andy manufactured his dental problems in order to avoid confronting the Canada team, the majority of whom are on the "thrown out" list. Which would imply that he perhaps knew about it earlier than those guys did. But they would have been training together before flying out to Canada, so I don't really see that as a compelling argument, either.
No doubt when we have recovered from the shock, we will start finding silver linings, but for now we are all still outraged at the manner in which this "merger" has been handled.
Coug
What she said............applause, applause!
ReplyDeleteBE