Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project General Manager Brian Nygaard has downplayed media reports yesterday that the name of the new team will be Leopard True Racing. Although he refused to officially confirm or deny it to Wort.lu, he said that no indication of the official team title would be given prior to the launch on January 6th.
“We will present the jerseys, bicycles, cars and buses at the official team presentation,” he said. “To unveil the secret now would be absurd. Until then, everyone will have to be patient. I won’t say any more.”
In October Nygaard rejected reports that the team name would match the logo displayed on the holding page of its website. “Leopard True Racing is the name of the project behind the new squad,” Nygaard explained to Wort. “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 then.
Nygaard, who previously worked as press officer with Team Saxo Bank and Team Sky, is well aware of how to get the maximum media attention. The new ProTeam squad drip-fed details of the rider lineup to the media over several months, ensuring plenty of coverage while also giving ground for growing speculation about the ‘did-he,didn’t-he’ signing of Fabian Cancellara.
The Swiss rider (pictured above) was recently confirmed as being the final signing to the team, thus joining previous Saxo Bank team-mates Andy and Frank Schleck, Jakob Fuglsang, Stuart O’Grady, Jens Voigt, Dominic Klemme and Anders Lund.
It therefore seems unlikely that the team name would be displayed so prominently on the holding page of the website, months before the actual launch.
Nygaard will relish the media attention paid to the team, and probably also enjoys the speculation that supermarket chain Auchan and others are backers. It all builds suspense, and will heighten anticipation prior to the official presentation on January 6th.
He’s happy with how things have gone thus far, being encouraged by the recent team training camp. “The atmosphere was good and I think we’ve selected the best possible rider combination. The riders are motivated and are doing everything possible to shine in 2011,” he stated. “I cannot complain about the smallest detail. Everything worked perfectly. It is not an exaggeration to say that this was the best training camp I have been at.”