Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team (UCI Team Code: DSC) is a US-based professional road bicycle racingteam. It is the continuation of the 2004 US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. Lance Armstrong, seven time Tour de France winner, was its leader (albeit only during the Tour) until July 2005. Since 2005, the team is one of the 20 teams that compete in the new UCIProTour. On June 152004, the Discovery Channel signed a deal to become sponsor of the team for the seasons of 2004 until 2008. As part of the sponsorship deal, Armstrong will provide on-air appearances for the Discovery Networks TV Channels, including but not limited to, The Discovery Channel, TLC, and Fit TV. The deal did not affect the rights of secondary sponsor OLN, now known as Versus in the U.S., to air major cycling events such as the Tour de France, despite the fact that the two channels are competitors. The team is directed by BelgianJohan Bruyneel, who also managed U.S. Postal. The chief mechanic is Julien DeVries. The team is co-owned by Tailwind Sports Corp. of San Francisco and Capital Sports & Entertainment of Austin, TX. On February 102007 Discovery Channel announced that it will not renew its sponsorship of the team at the end of the 2007 season.[1] The decison to end its sponsorship is believed to be related to the sacking of Discovery Networks president Billy Campbell by David Zaslav, the new president of Discovery Communications the same day. On August 10, 2007, for reasons that have not been made clear, the team announced that it would cease operations at the end of the year.[2]
On August 102007, Tailwind Sports announced the end of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team. Tailwind officials stopped their search for a new title sponsor for the Discovery team, citing the current tumultuous conditions within the sport of cycling. Team operations will continue until the end of the 2007 season. The 2007 U.S. national road champion, George Hincapie has found a new team for 2008. Hincapie has signed a contract for the 2008 season with the T-Mobile Team, run by the American and T-mobile founder, Bob Stapleton. [3]
U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team history and notable wins
The US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team and later named the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team presented by Berry Floor operated from 1996 through 2004, and during its time fielded one of the biggest names in modern cycling: Lance Armstrong. The United States Postal Service was the title (primary) sponsor from 1996 through 2004 and the team was nicknamed the "Blue Train". Berry Floor, a Belgian flooring company, was the secondary sponsor, also known as a Presenting Sponsor. Domestically the USPS Pro Cycling Team was presented by Alloc, the American subsidiary of Berry Floor. Armstrong won six Tours de France (1999-2004) with US Postal, and in 2003 Roberto Heras—at that time a US Postal rider—won the Vuelta a España. Armstrong went on to win a seventh Tour de France in 2005, after the USPS contract and sponsorship ended. The US Postal Service announced that they would cease sponsorship at the end of the 2004 racing season when their eight-year contract expired. They had previously been under fire for the expenditure from organizations such as Postal Watch, a website critical of the United States Postal Service. Legitimate problems of mismanagement and sloppy accounting were pointed out by the Postal Service itself, via the USPS Office of the Inspector General. Before the expiration of the USPS contract, Armstrong insisted that he would only continue to ride with the USPS team structure. This demand was met on June 15, 2004 when Discovery Networks stepped in and agreed to sponsor the team for the next three years as the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team.
2004
L-to-R: Armstrong, Azevedo, and Ekimov of the 2004 USPS team
In 2001, the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team was named the USOC Team of the Year. Also, Armstrong was named USOC SportsMan of the Year, which he won in 1999.
With the help of Thomas Weisel and Eddy Borysewicz, the United States Postal Service begins its reign as title sponsor to what has become the most successful cycling team from the United States. Borysewicz served as the team's directeur sportif and the team raced mainly in domestic events in the United States.
Eddie Borysewicz, known as "Eddy B", began an amateur squad sponsored by Sunkyong, a South Korea-based manufacturing and industrial conglomerate. At the 1984 Summer Olympics, Borysewicz served as the U.S. Olympic Cycling Coach and led American cyclists to an unprecedented nine Olympic medals. Borysewicz is the author of the 1985 book entitled, Bicycle Road Racing: The Complete Program for Training and Competition.
Sponsors
The following companies and organizations serve as sponsors for the 2007 squad:[6]
United States
Portugal
Canada
Italy
Spain
Russia
United Kingdom
Belgium
Luxembourg
New Zealand
Netherlands
Poland
France
South Africa
Denmark
Australia
Norway
Sweden
Colombia
Germany
Guatemala
China
Austria
Switzerland
Japan National Time Trial Cycling Championship
