U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team


U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team was a United States-based professional road bicycle racing team. On June 15, 2004, the Discovery Channel signed a deal to become sponsor of the team for the 2004-2007 seasons and its name changed to Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team From 2005 until 2007, the team was one of the 20 teams that competed in the new UCI ProTour. As part of the sponsorship deal, Lance Armstrong, the team's undisputed leader, provided on-air appearances for the Discovery Networks TV channels. The deal did not affect the rights of secondary sponsor OLN, now known as NBC Sports Network in the US, to air major cycling events such as the Tour de France, although the two channels are competitors.
The team was directed by Belgian Johan Bruyneel, who also managed U.S. Postal. The chief mechanic was Julien DeVries. The team was co-owned by Tailwind Sports Corp. of San Francisco and Capital Sports & Entertainment of Austin, Texas. On February 10, 2007, Discovery Channel announced that it would not renew its sponsorship of the team at the end of the 2007 season. On August 10, 2007 the cycling team announced that it would not search for a new sponsor, but cease operations and disband at the end of the 2007 season.
In October 2012 USADA released a report saying that the team had run "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme the sport has ever seen". The report contained affidavits from eleven riders on the team including Frankie Andreu, Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, and others, describing their own usage of erythropoietin, blood transfusion, testosterone, and other banned practices during the Tour de France and other races. They also implicated seven-time Tour winner Armstrong. On October 22, 2012 the UCI upheld the USADA's recommendation to strip Armstrong of all results since August 1, 1998, and ban him from cycling for life. In February 2013, the US government joined Landis' False Claims Act lawsuit against Armstrong, alleging that Armstrong had defrauded the US Postal Service of sponsorship funds by violating cycling rules by using performance-enhancing drugs while riding for the team.

Team rosters

Final season

On August 10, 2007, 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 continued until the end of the 2007 season.
After the 2007 season Johan Bruyneel went to rebuild Team Astana for the 2008 season. He brought with him much of Discovery's personnel, such as riders Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer, Yaroslav Popovych, Tomas Vaitkus, and coach Sean Yates.
The 2007 U.S. national road champion George Hincapie signed a contract for the 2008 season Team High Road, later known as Team HTC-Columbia, run by the American Bob Stapleton.

Final squad (2007)

''As of April 30, 2007. Ages are from August 10, 2007.

Former members of Discovery Channel

Former members of U.S. Postal

NameNationalityYears
Lance Armstrong1998–2004
Benoit Joachim1999–2004
Frankie Andreu1998–2000
José Azevedo2004
Dariusz Baranowski1998
Michael Barry2002–2004
Tom Boonen2000–2002
Jamie Burrow2000
Dylan Casey1999–2002
David Clinger2002
Michael Creed2004
Antonio Cruz2001–2004
Julian Dean1999–2000
Pascal Derame1998–1999
Viatcheslav Ekimov1997–2004
David George1999–2000
Chad Gerlach1996
Eddy Gragus1995–1997
Tyler Hamilton1996–2000
Andrew Hampsten1996
Roberto Heras2001–2003
Ryder Hesjedal2004
George Hincapie1997–2004
Frank Høj1999
Marty Jemison1998–1999
Patrick Jonker2000
Steffen Kjærgaard2000–2003
Damon Kluck2003
Kenny Labbé2000–2004
Floyd Landis2002–2004
Juan Llaneras Rosello1998
Levi Leipheimer2000–2001
Kevin Livingston1999–2000
Glenn Magnusson1999
Chann McRae2002
Peter Meinert-Nielsen1998–1999
Gianpaolo Mondini2002
Kirk O'Bee2000
Víctor Hugo Peña2001–2004
Daniel Rincón2004
Jean-Cyril Robin1997–1998
Sven Teutenberg1998
Christian Vande Velde1998–2003
Jonathan Vaughters1998–1999
Cédric Vasseur2000
Stive Vermaut2000
Robbie Ventura2003–2004
Anton Villatoro1996–1998
Matt White2001–2003
Dave Zabriskie2003–2004

Notable wins

2005 results

2006 results

2007 results

U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team history

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. The United States Postal Service was the title 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.
Lance Armstrong won six Tours de France 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 it would cease sponsorship at the end of the 2004 racing season when its eight-year contract expired. It 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.

1996 results

With the help of Thomas Weisel and Eddie 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.
DateRaceLocationWinner
1996USPRO National Road Race ChampionshipsEddy Gragus
1996Stage Tour of ChinaEddy Gragus

1997 results

Thomas Weisel brought in Mark Gorski, the 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in the Men's 1000 m Sprint event, as team manager. Due in large part to Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov and his key stage wins at Paris–Nice and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, the USPS squad got its first invitation to ride in the Tour de France.
DateRaceLocationWinner
1997Stage, Critérium du Dauphiné LibéréViatcheslav Ekimov
1997Stage, Paris–NiceViatcheslav Ekimov
1997Stage, Redlands ClassicEddy Gragus
1997 National Road Race ChampionshipViatcheslav Ekimov
1997Stage, Setmana CatalanaGeorge Hincapie

1998 results

joined the US Postal team in late 1997, when returning to professional cycling following his cancer treatments.
DateRaceLocationWinner
1998 USPRO National Road Race ChampionshipsGeorge Hincapie
1998Overall, Tour de LuxembourgLance Armstrong
1998Stage, Tour de LuxembourgLance Armstrong
1998Overall, Rheinland PfalzLance Armstrong
1998Killington Stage RaceGeorge Hincapie
1998First Union Invitational Frankie Andreu

1999 results

2000 results

2001 results

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 also won in 1999.
DateRaceLocationWinner
2001-04-11Gent–WevelgemGeorge Hincapie
2001-09San Francisco Grand PrixGeorge Hincapie

2002 results

2003 results

2004 results

DateRaceLocationWinner
2004-04-01Overall, Three Days of De PanneGeorge Hincapie
2004-07-07Stage 4, Tour de FranceU.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team

Early history and notable wins

1988–1989 – Sunkyong (Amateur)

, known as "Eddy B", was the road coach of a pro/amateur cycling team formed by George Taylor and 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.

1992–1994 – Subaru-Montgomery

and Montgomery Securities, led by Thomas Weisel, serve as co-title sponsors.
DateRaceLocationWinner
1990Tour de GastownJonas Carney
1991Stage 2, Redlands ClassicJim Copeland
1991Tour de GastownLance Armstrong
1991Stage 6, Redlands ClassicKrzysztof Wiatr
1992Herald Sun TourBart Bowen
1992USPRO National Road Race ChampionshipsBart Bowen
1993Stage 1, Redlands ClassicMiguel Arroyo

1995 – Montgomery-Bell

Montgomery Securities Chief Executive Thomas W. Weisel, an avid cyclist, continued his support for cycling.
DateRaceLocationWinner
1995Stage 8, Tour Du PontClark Sheehan
1995Stage 4, Tour de PologneEddy Gragus

Sponsors

The following companies and organizations served as sponsors for the 2007 squad: