The 2006 Disovery Channel team. (Image credit: Mark Zalewski)
After winning seven Tours, a couple of Vueltas and a Giro d'Italia, Discovery Channel is one of the most successful teams in the peloton. But without Lance Armstrong, who retired last year, where do they go now? Mark Zalewski reports from the team presentation in Beverly Hills, California.
Coinciding with its celebrity nature, the 2006 Discovery Channel team presentation took place in Beverly Hills, California - right next to Hollywood on Tuesday. And the biggest stars of the team were on hand to tell the world what they have in store for 2006: winning races like Paris-Roubaix and contending for the overall in the Grand Tours.
Even though Lance Armstrong has hung-up the bike, he still remains as involved as ever, joining the team onstage and joining team director Johan Bruyneel in a press Q & A.
Right away, the questions came flying - who is taking over for Lance? "There is never a competition on the team who is going to be the leader. Everybody has his objectives. We have a strong leader for the Giro, he won the race two times. And a few strong riders who are going to support them there. There are three or four other riders who will have an opportunity to be a leader in the Tour de France. But there is never a competition within the team to decide who is the leader. I think everybody knows we have three or for guys who can be in the top ten. We will start with that goal. Then deciding on how the race goes - who is stronger than the other, what the race situation decides. In general, the problem is solved by the race."
