Name refers to project not team name so peloton should be spared yellow and black spotted jerseys
The Luxembourg team built around brothers Fränk and Andy Schleck will definitely not be called Leopard True Racing, team manager Brian Nygaard has told the Luxemburger Wort. Speculation has been spreading since a “coming soon” website was launched at the weekend with the address leopard.lu. This is merely the name of the project though, and not how the team will be referred to in 2011.
“Leopard True Racing is the name of the project behind the new squad,” Nygaard explained. “The name of this structure should not be confused with the actual team name; both are different things.
“I can assure you that for 2011 the team name will not be Leopard True Racing,” he confirmed.
The speculation will therefore continue as to what the team will be called, and whom it will be sponsored by when it officially comes into being on January 1st. The news that it is not to be called “Leopard” will have caused groans of disappointment and sighs of relief in equal measure from those who remember the Acqua e Sapone and Domina Vacanze kits sported by Mario Cipollini in 2002 and 2003.
The memory of the zebra-striped Lion King in full flow, not to mention the special edition tiger-stripe all-over skinsuit that he wore in the 2002 Giro d’Italia prologue, provoke both admiration and revulsion across cycling. The prospect of seeing a leopard-skin kit in next year’s Tour de France might be too much for some to contemplate.