T-Mobile holds first team meeting

by Susan Westemeyer

The T-Mobile women met last week, and now the men are on. The team took advantage of the last race of the ProTour season to hold its first meeting at the Villa Sassa Hotel in Lugano, Switzerland. The first team action is getting to know each other–there are not only 16 new team members, but also new faces among the management and support personnel. The meeting opened Saturday evening at dinner, when incoming team manager Bob Stapleton and sports director Rolf Aldag welcomed the team.

In the next few days, the 29 magenta-clad men will be fitted for new race clothes, discuss training and race calendars with the management and sporting directors, undergo medical and technical tests, attend a nutrition workshop, get photographed, and participate in those dreaded teambuildng exercises, or as the team put it, in "activities to encourage the team spirit."