Dane Brian Nygaard announced his first division team with stars Andy Schleck and Fabian Cancellara at a presentation today in Luxembourg. As with many of the cyclists, the name – Leopard-Trek – was confirmed after weeks of speculation.
"We have developed our new team, aiming for a fresh and innovative style," said General Manager Nygaard. "Of utmost importance, though, is to take cycling back to its proper roots: It's all about the racing."
Nygaard, flanked by Team Manager Kim Andersen, did not reveal how Leopard-Trek plans to take cycling back to its roots. The answer may come later this evening, at 20:00, at the team presentation. There the team will reveal its kit, though, a photo of it made its way around the internet today.
Following the announcement of Leopard-Trek this afternoon, the team sent out a press release revealing one of its new sponsors. Enovos, a natural gas company that mainly serves Luxembourg, will sponsor the team for three years.
"The international team, headed by Luxembourg brothers Andy and Frank Schleck," read an Enovos press release, "will guarantee media presence across Europe."
Besides the Schlecks and Cancellara, the team includes stars Jakob Fuglsang, Stuart O'Grady, Daniele Bennati, Jens Voigt and Fabian Wegmann.
"With riders on the roster who can win from the first race of the season to the final, we are looking to be competitive in a lot races," Nygaard said. "We are not going to win every race, but we are certainly here to make our mark in the biggest events."
Nygaard left his post as team Sky's press officer following the Giro d'Italia in May to become the General Manager of Luxembourg's new team. He joined Sky last year after working with Bjarne Riis' CSC/Saxo Bank team for many years, including when the team won the 2008 Tour de France with Carlos Sastre.
Shortly before last year's Tour de France, Riis fired Dane Andersen after seven years as a sports director. Riis had heard rumours about the new and that Andersen was to be involved. Andersen became the Team Manager.
"The people we have assembled to support the riders are a group that I am equally confident in," added Nygaard. "I think we have picked just the right people for this project."
Lars Michaelsen, Torsten Schmidt and Adriano Baffi are the team's sports directors. They will join Nygaard and Andersen to present their new team tonight at the Centre National Sportif et Culturel, better known as d'Coque.
25-man team:
Daniele Bennati
Fabian Cancellara
Will Clarke
Stefan Denifl
Brice Feillu
Jakob Fuglsang
Linus Gerdemann
Dominic Klemme,
Anders Lund
Maxime Monfort
Martin Mortensen
Giacomo Nizzolo
Stuart O'Grady
Martin Pedersen
Bruno Pires
Joost Posthuma
Andy Schleck
Frank Schleck
Tom Stamsnijder
Davide Vigano
Jens Voigt
Robert Wagner
Fabian Wegmann
Wouter Weylandt
Oliver Zaugg