Rock asked to pay the bill in San Luis

By Kirsten Robbins in San Luis, Argentina

The organizers of the Tour of San Luis have ordered Rock Racing to pay upwards of US$30,000 back to the event for not showing up, a violation of the event-team contract. The hefty expense incorporates flights, lodging, meals, rental cars and fuel cards that the organization paid for in advance.

"It costs us a lot of money to invite a team down to compete in our event and all the teams had to sign a contract with us," said race promoter Giovanni Lombardi. "As far as I'm concerned they will not be invited back to our event."

The team was scheduled to compete in the Tour of San Luis but was a no-show after encountering problems with its racing license just days before the event's start date of Monday, January 19. The team met the requirements set by the UCI and acquired their continental license on Friday January 16.

The riders registered for the event included US national champion Tyler Hamilton, Oscar Sevilla, Francisco "Paco" Mancebo, Jose Enrigue Gutierrez and Freddy Rodriguez lead by directeur sportif Rudy Pevenage.