Leopard are in trouble?

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Here we go again, this time Leopard are having to deny that they are having financial problems.

Interestingly, this report names Fabu and Frandy as being the other three riders who had complained to the UCI about not being paid on time - the fourth one being Jakob, which had already been reported a couple of times.

It seems a bit odd to me that earlier reports - the ones in which Jakob was complaining - didn't mention the high profile of the "other" unpaid riders: we were left to assume that it was domestiques who weren't getting paid. You do rather think that the "stars" not being paid would have made a much better story. Therefore I don't give a lot of credence to this report.

Also, just take a look at the financial backing of the team - RadioShack? Huge. Nissan? Very huge. Trek? Not exactly small. Plus the foreverer-tarred-in-my-view Mr Becca, who is frequently described as a billionaire: yes, he may well be undergoing investigation for not paying his taxes, I imagine that is very much an ongoing situation for any rich person wanting to hang on to as much of their wealth as possible.

All this lot added together probably barely notice the amount it costs to run a pro team, even if they have had to splash out on new helmets with a small panel of yellow on them for the Tour team.



Yes! Shack have found a way to co-operate with ASO's wish to have yellow helmets on the team classification leaders, while still embarrassing Sky for wearing "Bob the builder" dayglo helmets.

Actually, they don't look like new helmets at all - presumably one of the soigneurs spent ten minutes with a paintbrush turning the red sections into a sort of orangey-yellow, while the boys were warming up on the rollers.

Meanwhile, here's a photo that deserves a second look:



What is wrong with this photo? It's a bunch of Leopards on a podium, ah, an old photo, eh? But no!

There's the old Leopard kit, on the right, but who's that wearing it?

Then Little Fab in the middle, who ought to be in Leopard kit, but isn't.

Then Linus, definitely another Leopard, but he's got an extra stripe? Oh, he's wearing Shack kit!

Answer: it's the German Nationals (road), won by Little Fab (riding for Garmin Quackacuda) (ok, now known as Garmin Sharp, less amusing) so he's now in a national jersey, with Linus second, and the other guy is Julian Kern, riding for Team Leopard Trek "Junior League" as it were, wearing the old kit.

Ah, sigh for the happy days of Leopard Trek, brief as they were.

Any other Tour news?

Fabu's wife had a little girl, so yay for them: Tony Gallopin was sent home ill, *glum face* but Shack managed to get five riders in the first group yesterday, which is quite an achievement after a hard day of riding, a horrible last-minute hill, and the much-anticipated strong winds in the final few kms.

They also have five riders in the top 20 in the GC today, which is pretty good going - and don't forget that all these finishes are earning UCI points. The UCI site, annoyingly, hasn't been updated since the 17th June - come on guys, get with it!! - so it still shows Shack as 10th in the team rankings, but I think they must be a bit higher than that, by now.

Peter "more fun than a jammie dodger" Sagan continues to amuse, entertain, and win stuff: Sky are going great guns *waves Sky flag* and "Bumfluff" Van Garderen is holding the white jersey, and is looking stronger than his team leader, Cadel Evans.

Talking of which, anyone know how an Australian pronounces a very typical Welsh name? Half the commentators say Kadd'll, the other half say K'Dell. Sorry, what was that? Do we really care? No, I guess we don't!

Meanwhile, back in Luxembourg:

Mrs S: (exasperated voice) "Andy! Will you go outside and play? I am sick of you crashing around inside the house."
Andy: "Aww, but muuuuumm, I'm booooooorrrrred."
Mrs S: "Well, go out on your bi- errr, go swimming or something."
Andy: (dejected voice) "But I've been swimming for four hours already today, look at my fingers, they're like prunes."

He holds up two handfuls of wrinkled fingers to prove his point.

Mrs S: "Well, take the dog out for a walk. Just get outside, for heaven's sake."
Andy: (in weary voice) "Oh, all right. Come on Stuey, walkies."