Fly V Australia’s general manager says he has money in place, but needs big names
Top Aussie riders Heinrich Haussler and Brett Lancaster are attractive prospects for the planned new Australian ProTour team, according to Pegasus Racing/Fly V Australia owner Chris White.
The two professionals are facing the search for new contracts after it was officially confirmed yesterday that the Cervélo Test Team would cease to exist at the end of the season. Instead of continuing to back the Professional Continental team, the bicycle company will form a partnership with a US ProTour team, joining forces to become Garmin-Cervélo in 2011.
White told the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday that he sees the developments as a possibly opportunity for his squad to sign big-name Australian riders. “With what has happened at Cervelo Test team, there is a really unique opportunity for some of those guys to create a legacy by being a part of Australia's first ProTour team,” he said to Rupert Guinness.
“And what better way to have a great Australian rider like Heinrich Haussler, or Brett Lancaster for that matter - even with the international riders? It would be the perfect storm in terms of what great Australian talent is available out there for Australia's first ProTour team.”
Haussler is tipped to be one of the riders who may be of interest to the current Garmin-Transitions team management. Team general manager Jonathan Vaughters confirmed to VeloNation yesterday that the American ProTour team is interested in talking to several riders from the current Cervélo Test Team, although he didn’t name those concerned. However, as one of the most successful riders on the squad, he may well be exploring whether Haussler would be a good fit.
“Obviously there are a number of riders on the team who are extremely attractive to us,” he said. “At the end of the day, we are going to expand all the way up to 30 riders to accommodate as much high-level talent as we can. We respect how much talent that team has.”
Big names are important leverage:
However White, who manages the current Fly V Australia team upon the foundations of which the proposed Aussie ProTour team would be built, knows that he needs big name riders. For that reason, a competitor like Haussler would be important. The 2009 Tour de France stage winner previously competed for Germany but has recently shifted his licence to Australia, the country of his mother.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, White has confirmed that he has secured $14 million sponsorship to fund the ProTour team, and will submit the €15,000 ($21,000) ProTour licence application fee with the Union Cycliste Internationale by Tuesday.
He has signed at least 10 riders, including former Garmin pro Trent Lowe, but will need to be able to show the UCI that the final number will include top-level competitors. Meeting the sporting standards of the ProTour is one requirement for a licence, and so enticing some big guns on board is crucial if the application is to be successful.
“I want riders. I want Australian riders and I want good riders," he said. "These [Cervelo] guys would fit really well. We have a great core of riders we have been working with. We have UCI support for an Australian ProTour team but we need to fulfil requirements. One of the key parts of that is having the right riders.”
White also plans to emphasis links with the country’s culture and history; Pegasus Racing will partner with the ''Bike for Bush Foundation',” which aims to give BMX bicycles to children in Australia's most remote indigenous communities. As Guinness notes, some of Australia's most acclaimed indigenous artists such as Wentja Napaltjarri, Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa and Yannima Tommy Watson will paint bicycles which will be auctioned at a charity night in Geelong during the world road titles.
White said that all team bikes and jerseys will feature colours, designs and insignias drawing on that culture.
UCI President Pat McQuaid told VeloNation in recent days that the governing body sees the merits in having a team from the country.
“I have spoken to several different people over the past couple of years in Australia about the possibility of an Australian ProTour team,” he said. “All I can say is that the UCI would welcome a ProTour team from there as Australian cyclists are very strongly represented in the ProTour, at the top level of the sport.
“It would be very fitting, and also beneficial to the development of the sport should a good, strong Australian ProTour team be put together with Australian sponsors and an Australian look about it.”
While the strategic importance of such a team in helping globalise cycling is clear, the UCI is highly unlike to give away ‘soft’ licences. Fourteen teams are reported to be chasing the eight ProTour licences up for grabs next year, and the battle for those slots is likely to be every bit as intense as the tussles Haussler has faced in bunch gallops during his career.