DISCOVERY TEAM - No sponsor = Finished!

[equus123]

Holy crap I can't believe I just read that no title sponsor has been found for next year and will be wrapped up at the conclusion of this season.

The Paceline
Velonews

[SheFly]

Yup - congrats on great finishes in the Tour, but you're out of a job. That really stinks.

On the other hand, I think finding sponsorship is going to be VERY difficult given all of the doping stories surrounding the sport right now.

From what I read, it sounds like Johan is all done, and that Georgie already has a contract with T-Mobile for next year. I hope that Levi can find a good team!

SheFly

[Tiffany]

Yeah, that really stinks. I'm going to get to see the big time riders travel through my are during the Tour of Missouri. Team Discovery is riding ... it will be sad to see them in a way knowing that they won't be back as a team anymore.

[equus123]

i can't picture George in pink no matter HOW hard i try.

well, the best these boys can do is race their little hearts out for the remainder of their seasons because now their jobs and finding new contracts are on the line.

hopefully the Argyle boys can make it to the ProTour races next year. if not it's going to be hard to enjoy them without an american team to route for.

[Triskeliongirl]

Its hard to believe they will disband. I bet its a publicity thing to attract a sponsor. If the winning team of the tour de france can't find a sponsor, maybe cycling really is washed up. I had heard that HP and oracle had signed on. Hmmmm....... So, I am back to the idea that this is a publicity stunt.

[NJBikeGal]

Apparently, they have had close to finalized negotiations with several companies (Apple, Dell, etc.), but nothing has panned out so far. As much as I love the guys, the fact that George has already signed with T-Mobile tells me that this ride is over. He would never leave Disco or Bruyneel if there was a chance of recovering a sponsor.

A moment of silence for Disco...



OK...silence over...bring on the ARGYLE!

[bmccasland]

Doesn't this also have something to do with the fact that the CEO of Discovery isn't that excited about cycling?

So do we buy the Discovery jerseys because they're going away, or not out of protest

[7rider]

Doesn't this also have something to do with the fact that the CEO of Discovery isn't that excited about cycling?

So do we buy the Discovery jerseys because they're going away, or not out of protest

I don't think so, on the first point.
On the second point....maybe this makes them collectors' items??? (Just, ugh, don't take the tags off 'em).

[RoadRaven]

I guess I understand - but it seems stange and sad that no-one is taking on this team who has developed a good close team culture and who work well together... I hope they take their excellent understanding of what "teamwork" means and take it to other teams...