| 11/15/2001 |
Coming off perhaps its finest season, highlighted by team
leader Lance Armstrong's third consecutive Tour de France victory, the United
States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team announced it has added seven new
riders to its roster for the upcoming 2002 season. The team, set to begin
its seventh season with the USPS as its title sponsor, will possess a 21-rider
roster in 2002 and will continue to be one of the most diverse teams in
the sport with riders representing 10 different nations.
The new additions to the USPS team are Canada's Michael Barry, Belgium's
Tom Boonen, Americans David Clinger, Floyd Landis and Chann McRae, Gianpaolo
Mondini of Italy and Czech Pavel Padrnos.
Coming off perhaps its finest season, highlighted by team leader Lance Armstrong's
third consecutive Tour de France victory, the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling
Team announced it has added seven new riders to its roster for the upcoming
2002 season.
The team, set to begin its seventh season with USPS as its title sponsor,
will have a 21-rider roster in 2002 and will continue to be one of the most
diverse teams in the sport with riders representing 10 different nations.
The new additions to the USPS team are Americans David Clinger, Floyd Landis
and Chann McRae, Canada's Michael Barry, Belgium's Tom Boonen, Italian Gianpaolo
Mondini and Czech Pavel Padrnos.
The returning riders from the 2001 season are Armstrong and fellow Americans
George Hincapie, Dylan Casey, Antonio Cruz, Kenny Labbe, Christian Vande
Velde, Robbie Ventura and Dave Zabriskie, Spain's Roberto Heras and Jose
Luis Rubiera, Benoit Joachim of Luxembourg, Norway's Steffen Kjaergaard,
Colombia's Victor Hugo Pena and Matthew White of Australia. The team is
currently negotiating with team member Stephane Barthe of France.
"We are excited this will be the seventh year of our program," said Mark
Gorski, CEO of Tailwind Sports, the sports marketing company that owns and
manages the team. "And as we have said at the start of each year, we again
feel we have fielded our best team ever. Combining a highly motivated Lance,
a healthy Roberto and a more seasoned George along with the team we have
assembled, I am confident we will be better than ever before. Plus, our
new group of American riders gives the team some great potential going forward."
Johan Bruyneel, the team's Director Sportif, echoed Gorski's sentiments."I
think we have put together a very well balanced group of new riders to the
team, which wasn't an easy task after losing riders such as Viatcheslav
Ekimov, Tyler Hamilton and Levi Leipheimer," he said. "I am confident that
we have compensated for those who left the team with riders like Mondini,
Padrnos, Clinger and Boonen for the Classics and with Landis and McRae for
the Tour. Also, Michael Barry will be a good addition for both the U.S.
races and the smaller European stage races."
The USPS team will once again focus its efforts on Armstrong's defense of
the yellow jersey at the Tour de France. Over the last three Tours de France,
Armstrong has won 11 stages en route to his three victories and has 13 career
Tour stage wins.
The team also will attempt to win its first World Cup event after several
near misses over the last few years by Hincapie, the team's leading one-day
rider. Hincapie has finished in the top six at one of the world's most difficult
events, Paris-Roubaix, the last three years and this year won his first
Classic event in Gent-Wevelgem as well as America's newest premier event,
the San Francisco Grand Prix.
Additionally, the team will support Heras, another top stage racer and one
of the world's top pure climbers, at the Tour of Spain, a race he won in
2000. This year, Heras placed fourth at the Tour of Spain, one of three
USPS riders in the overall top seven.
Domestically, the USPS team will focus on top American events such as the
U.S. Professional Championship and the San Francisco Grand Prix, among others.
Of the new riders, Bruyneel was particularly enthused about the American
contingent. "I'm very happy that we have added three important American
riders to the team. Landis and Clinger are young and very talented and possess
great potential that we will try to develop further, while McRae is an experienced
rider with solid all-around skills. All three of them are extremely motivated
with their new challenge.
"I have a real good feeling about the team for next year because we have
a group similar in strength to this year's team," added Bruyneel. "When
the level is high, as it has been with this team, its difficult to improve.
I'm confident that we will be able to play a decisive role in the important
races, mainly in the Tour de France and the Tour of Spain, and in the World
Cup Classics."
2002 U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team Roster:
Lance ARMSTRONG (USA)
Michael BARRY (CAN)
Tom BOONEN (BEL)
Dylan CASEY (USA)
David CLINGER (USA)
Antonio CRUZ (USA)
Roberto HERAS (ESP)
George HINCAPIE (USA)
Benoit JOACHIM (LUX)
Steffen KJAERGAARD (NOR)
Kenny LABBE (USA)
Floyd LANDIS (USA)
Chann McRAE (USA)
Gianpaolo MONDINI (ITA)
Pevel PADRNOS (CZE)
Victor Hugo PENA (COL)
Jose Luis RUBIERA (ESP)
Christian VANDE VELDE (USA)
Robbie VENTURA (USA)
Matthew WHITE (AUS)
Dave ZABRISKIE (USA)
www.uspsprocycling.com
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