T-Mobile in disarray

cyclingheroes said:

Rudy Pevenage sacked, Jan Ullrich sacked, Oscar Sevilla sacked, Olaf Ludwig sacked, Mario Kummer sacked, Jörg Ludewig not allowed to start anymore....

Trouble with Andreas Klöden, Steffen Wesemann and MatthiasKessler. Bernhard Kohl will leave...

TM in Disarray?

Word up.

Carbon monoxide breathing tests for riders.
Not letting riders do crits and races for supporting the Kaiser, (Kloden)
Sounds like the old East German mentality persists.

Disarray indeed.

It could get worse - Olaf Ludwig could find a sponsor for his pro tour licence. Unlikely but you never know ............

foxvi said:

It could get worse - Olaf Ludwig could find a sponsor for his pro tour licence. Unlikely but you never know ............

It's not that unlikely... There are wild rumours about a new Ludwig team.

Dont leave it like that cyclingheros - what rumors!!

foxvi said:

Dont leave it like that cyclingheros - what rumors!!

Ludwig takes his pro-tour license and a few riders to Unibet.com, that's the rumour.

Riders being I suspect, Kloden, Kessler, Wesemann, Ludewig, Guerini and of course Ulle!

foxvi said:

Riders being I suspect, Kloden, Kessler, Wesemann, Ludewig, Guerini and of course Ulle!

If Ulle is cleared... yes that might be the scenario....

But i have to say that the scene is full of rumours at the moment.

If Ludwig can transfer his licence to another team, TMO will have to get another pro licence, maybe Phonak's? On their current form of 'panic' management and lack of loyality to its riders and staff you could see TMO just pulling the plug on thier sponsorship which would then put alot of other riders and support staff out of a job. What a mess .........

I'm off now to look at your newly opened site cyclingheros!

foxvi said:

If Ludwig can transfer his licence to another team, TMO will have to get another pro licence, maybe Phonak's? On their current form of 'panic' management and lack of loyality to its riders and staff you could see TMO just pulling the plug on thier sponsorship which would then put alot of other riders and support staff out of a job. What a mess .........

I'm off now to look at your newly opened site cyclingheros!

TM already asked for a new pro-tour license and TM spokesman (TM company) Frommert said the UCI told TM they would get one. Frommertwas asked on German TV if TM would get the Phonak license, Frommert said "no comment". On Tuesday Phonak will hold a press conference. I assume we will know more about Phonaks future after the press conference. TM announced a press conference on August 25.

Thanks for the update on the press conferences and latest rumors. You may have guessed I am a Jan Ullrich fan and miss seeing him race, (and being a girl I have always wanted his children!!) and was gutted when JU, IB and Vino did not race the Tour this year and I bet Landis is gutted they did not race as well - Landis probably would have made the podium legally and not be in the mess he is in now. Strange how things turn out.

The site looks good and I will be following the Regio Tour on the site!

cyclingheroes said:

Rudy Pevenage sacked, Jan Ullrich sacked, Oscar Sevilla sacked, Olaf Ludwig sacked, Mario Kummer sacked, Jörg Ludewig not allowed to start anymore....

Trouble with Andreas Klöden, Steffen Wesemann and MatthiasKessler. Bernhard Kohl will leave...

TM in Disarray?

I think TMO Corporate acted in haste when the UCI/ASO pressured them over Puerto and what it said about two members of the TMO Cycling team.

At the time, I did say that a team should withdraw their riders if an allegation is made.
I presumed that the allegation that was being made against Ullrich and Sevilla
was based upon solid evidence and that the evidence had persuaded TMO Corporate to tell TMO Cycling Team to suspend the riders.

Subsequently I've been told that Puerto evidence is very very weak.
So why did TMO Corporate react in the way it did?

TMO Cycling team is in disarray - because TMO Corporate took a decision in haste.

I agree - TMO corporate also sacking Ullrich and Sevilla, by fax, (not cool) before the riders had any chance of seeing or hearing what they where accused of. But thats all history now. They will lose Kloden and Kessler I am sure at the end of the season what ever happens and the young riders dont seem to be ready to win the TdF so they will have to find a new GC contendor .... but who would want to ride for them now with their seeming lack of loyality?

limerickman said:

I think TMO Corporate acted in haste when the UCI/ASO pressured them over Puerto and what it said about two members of the TMO Cycling team.

At the time, I did say that a team should withdraw their riders if an allegation is made.
I presumed that the allegation that was being made against Ullrich and Sevilla
was based upon solid evidence and that the evidence had persuaded TMO Corporate to tell TMO Cycling Team to suspend the riders.

Subsequently I've been told that Puerto evidence is very very weak.
So why did TMO Corporate react in the way it did?

TMO Cycling team is in disarray - because TMO Corporate took a decision in haste.

Agreed!!!

The rumour that I was told was that TMO Corporate are looking to get out of cycling altogether.
(they've a huge marketing budget within other sports as it is : cycling is only a small proportion of their overall sports/marketing budget).

limerickman said:

The rumour that I was told was that TMO Corporate are looking to get out of cycling altogether.
(they've a huge marketing budget within other sports as it is : cycling is only a small proportion of their overall sports/marketing budget).

I don't know, the rumour i heard is that they might step out after the 2008 season, if their anti-doping image doesn't work...

cyclingheroes said:

I don't know, the rumour i heard is that they might step out after the 2008 season, if their anti-doping image doesn't work...

My man in Europe has said that the Landis affair, coupled with the other doping cases, has persuaded TMO Corporate to leave the sport.
It's bad for their image - according to the rumour mill.

Puerto and the way they reacted hasn't helped - it seems that in their anxiety to be seen to be zealous on anti-doping, they (TMO Corporate) may have suspended riders who did not cheat (and the dossier doesn't implicate JU by all accounts).

limerickman said:

My man in Europe has said that the Landis affair, coupled with the other doping cases, has persuaded TMO Corporate to leave the sport.
It's bad for their image - according to the rumour mill.

Puerto and the way they reacted hasn't helped - it seems that in their anxiety to be seen to be zealous on anti-doping, they (TMO Corporate) may have suspended riders who did not cheat (and the dossier doesn't implicate JU by all accounts).

But Ciolek signed a new contract last week, with the company, not with Ludwig.
But than again, they will buy him out...

Today Steffen Wesemann and Olaf Ludwig discussed the Tour of Germany. Wesemann said he wasn't allowed to start at the Tour of Germany and the Hamburg cyclassics because he critized Ludwig and Kummer. Ludwig answered that Wesemann not had a good season (hmm Wesemann was third in the Amstel Gold Race and did a good LBL..). Kessler suddenly was taken of the startlist for San Sebastian.....

Edit: next incident. My girlfriend had to work at the Sparkassengiro in Bochum today as a photograhper and told me there where big arguments at TM and Korff (second place) refused to come to the ceremony for the first 3.

Tristan Hoffman will leave CSC and join T-Mobile in 2007:

team-csc.comny news.aspOpen ↗