THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Armstrong, Bruyneel discuss future at Discovery presentation
Lance Armstrong and Discovery team director John Bruyneel reaffirmed the team’s commitment to fighting for victory at the spring classics, the Giro and the Tour at the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team’s presentation Tuesday morning in Beverly Hills, California.
"The Tour de France is still the focus; I am not prepared to not win it," Bruyneel said. "But there are definitely other races. The Giro is an important race, as are the spring classics. There is a new race this year, the Tour of California. There are definitely going to be other races that are important, but for the Tour we have a team who can do really well."
Discovery has four riders who can contest the overall in France’s biggest race, Bruyneel said: George Hincapie, Yaroslav Popovych, José Azevedo and Jose Luis "Chechu" Rubiera.
Lance Armstrong said that it’s better for Discovery to downplay its chances in the Tour, and "cherish this role as an underdog."
"We haven’t been in that position for a long time, and that’s the perfect way to ride that race. But on paper it’s between Ullrich and Basso and T-Mobile and CSC," said Armstrong. "Jan is looking completely different than he’s looked in other Januarys in the last seven, eight, nine years. This is a guy who’s clearly got new motivation and a new perspective on his sport. The course suits him: a lot of time trials, not particularly hard in the mountains."
The team now heads to Solvang, California, for a training camp. With the classics riders split into a separate training group, Bruyneel said the team’s early season preparation would be just as in previous years.
"The only difference is when we go in the parking lot in the morning it’s not so busy," he said.
Bruyneel also announced the team’s line-up for the Tour of California.
"The most important guys are going to be George Hincapie, Tom Danielson, Viatcheslav Ekimov, Paolo Savoldelli," Bruyneel said. Joining them at the start line in February will be Vladimir Gusev, Janez Brajkovic, Jason McCartney and Michael Barry.
Although retired from racing, Armstrong remains contracted with Discovery for the next two years. He will work with the team as an adviser.
"This relationship really hasn’t changed at all there. It’s an interaction constantly on a daily basis. Talking about the riders, their plans, their program, their training, how they’re looking, how they’re not looking. It’s important for me, and also Johan, that we maintain a consistency there. We’re both type A, so we’re both always there, asking questions, giving comments," Armstrong said.
Armstrong will also be working with the Discovery television company on a number of upcoming programs, said Discovery Networks president Bill Campbell.
"Now the contract is really shifting into one of the main reasons we made it, which was I think he can be a TV star," Campbell said. "He’s obviously going to have the time with the team, being a guide and a coach and an inspiration. But he’s already done three or four shows with us that have been fantastic. We did a thing called "The Science of Lance Armstrong," we did something on cancer survivorship on the Health Channel, and we did "Overhauling," a fun show about the car Sheryl had given him, on our TLC network."
This year Armstrong will be on the company’s Travel Channel, Discovery Health and probably the Discovery Channel, Campbell said. "A lot of it will be focused on the team: How do they train? Why are they as gifted as they are? For me, we have at least two more years of that. He’s been phenomenal for us."
Armstrong will also remain active in the cancer community. He said he would "never say never" about getting involved in politics, but for the time being, his primary social agenda is battling cancer.
"I need to make a difference in the fight against cancer. As soon as I pick a side politically, my influence will go down by 50 percent," Armstrong said. "I need to run for one office, and that’s the office of the presidency of the cancer-fighters union around the world. That’s the office I need to hold. I would be doing a disservice to the cause, and to my family quite honestly, if I were to run for office. Let’s hope we fix the cancer problem in the next 10 or 15 years, and then free up a bunch of time."
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2006 roster
José Azevedo (Por)
Michael Barry (Can)
Manuel Beltran (Sp)
Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn)
Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr)
Janez Brajkovic (Slo)
Tom Danielson (USA)
Stijn Devolder (B)
Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus)
Roger Hammond (GB)
George Hincapie (USA)
Leif Hoste (B)
Benoit Joachim (Lux)
Trent Lowe (Aus)
Egoi Martinez (Sp)
Jason McCartney (USA)
Gennady Mikhaylov (Rus)
Benjamin Noval (Sp)
Pavel Padrnos (Cze)
Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)
Jose Luis Rubiera (Sp)
Paolo Savoldelli (I)
Jurgen Van Den Broeck (L)
Jurgen Van Goolen (B)
Max Van Heeswijk (B)
Matthew White (Aus)
