Current Leopard Trek chief sponsor Flavio Becca has confirmed that while general manager Brian Nygaard will leave the setup, chief directeur sportif Kim Andersen will be able to remain part of the team in 2012.
There had been uncertainty about Andersen’s role in recent days after it was announced that Leopard Trek would receive staff, riders and sponsorship from the RadioShack squad. The question mark existed both because RadioShack general manager and directeur sportif Johan Bruyneel is coming on board, and also because Andersen himself said in recent days that he had not been told of the plans.
However it seems that the Dane could continue to have a big role in the team. “Kim Andersen was informed of the situation and he is welcome in 2012,” Becca told Le Quotidien. “He can remain without problems in the team. He was very happy with the arrival of Johan Bruyneel and said he was ready to work with him. For his part, Johan Bruyneel invited this. I think it's important to have him on the team.”
The team rode strongly in 2011, netting second and third overall in the Tour de France and taking several strong wins. However Becca, a highly successful businessman involved in the construction industry, said that it is in his nature to strive for improvements, and that is why big changes are being made. “Looking at the results and the course of the season, we thought that we could do better,” he said. “I am a perfectionist and demanding…for athletes and the entire team. I'm not someone who makes do with what he has. I always try to move forward.
“For me, cycling was a new discipline, but I applied the same methods as for my everyday business. I asked myself the question of how to strengthen the team at all levels. In the sporting sense, we were good but it was also necessary to find the appropriate environment for the riders. There were weaknesses. I often take this example: we have a large and beautiful plane with two co-pilots, a good team on board, but it lacks the captain.”
What’s curious is that the team took some flak during the current season over certain tactical decisions, particularly some involving the Schleck brothers in the Tour. As chief directeur sportif, Andersen had a more direct input to the riders than Nygaard did, yet it is the latter who is leaving.
Meanwhile the UCI has responded to Monday’s news that the two teams are joining forces under the UCI ProTeam licence of the latter. The governing body has reserved judgement, saying that it is currently studying the situation.
“The International Cycling Union is aware of the information published in the media concerning the project to create a team for the 2012 season called RadioShack-Nissan – Trek Professional Cycling Team,” it stated in a press release.
“The UCI has also learned from the same sources of the intention of the CSE Pro Cycling LLC – financial managers of the American team RadioShack – to give up the UCI WorldTour licence that it had been granted for the 2010-2013 period.
“The UCI is currently evaluating the information received and is not available to comment further at this time,” it concluded.