McEwen leaving Silence-Lotto in 2009

Robbie McEwen of Silence-Lotto didn't win a single stage at this year's Tour de France. This was partially down to the fact that he had little to no support from his team, and this may have something to do with the fact that he has announced he is leaving the Belgian team at the end of the year. In fact, he said, he already has a new team lined-up.

"I've signed with a new team for next year but I'll wait until later in the year to make any announcements about what I'm doing and let the new team announce it," McEwen said, according to The Australian News. " According to the newspaper, it is the new Russian team Katusha, which is the follow-up team to Tinkoff.

The little Australian was disappointed that he didn't win anything at the Tour this year. "That's what I came here to do, but the team was a whole different set up," he said. "It's been a difficult Tour for me because riding the sprints on your own is very, very hard when you've got to try and do the job of three guys alone. But that's something I knew coming into the Tour."

Tinkoff was financed by Russian Oleg Tinkoff. Signings for the new squad include Italian Filippo Pozzato as well as Belgians Gert Steegmans and Kenny Dehaes (SW)