As a consequence of his serious implication in the doping problems at the US Postal Service, Discovery Channel and Astana cycling teams, it appears that Johan Bruyneel has lost his position as general manager of the RadioShack Nissan squad.
According to Wort.lu, sources close to the team confirmed that this afternoon the Belgian was removed from the slot, ending a year working with the team. Last autumn he took over from the previous general manager Brian Nygaard, bringing riders and the title sponsors RadioShack and Nissan across from the previous American team of the same name.
Despite a very strong roster, the team has had limited successes this year, with Andy Schleck being far off form early on and then crashing heavily in the Criterium du Dauphiné. Frank Schleck tested positive in the Tour de France, while Fabian Cancellara crashed in both the Tour of Flanders and the Olympic road race, missing chunks of the season as a result.
Earlier this week USADA released the evidence it had gathered and Bruyneel’s position became threatened. According to numerous witnesses, including former US Postal Service riders such as Levi Leipheimer, Floyd Landis, Tyler Hamilton, Tom Danielson, Christian Vande Velde and Dave Zabriskie, he was involved in a systematic doping programme on the team, and also encouraged young riders to start using banned substances.
He is facing a arbitration hearing later this year over USADA’s charges, and his Belgian federation has forwarded the file for investigation.
Earlier today Cancellara expressed serious doubts about any future collaboration with him. ‘Bruyneel's name appears 129 times in 200 pages. I do not know if I can work with Johan,” he told Het Laaste Nieuws.
“I want to know what happened. I don’t know what the future brings. Neither for Bruyneel, nor for the team. It is also not in my hands. I do not know how the owner Flavio Becca will react. He has experienced many problems with the team in the past two years. He loses money, doesn’t win and gets a bad image. Every normal businessman would now throw in the towel, but I do not think Becca will. The only thing I really know for sure: Armstrong has nothing more to do with this team.”
If Wort is correct, neither does Bruyneel.
Also see: RadioShack Nissan team confirms Bruyneel’s time as general manager has ended