Lance Armstrong's Team RadioShack will head to Australia in January to make the Tour Down Under the first race for the new team.
The Tour Down Under rolls out Jan. 17-24, 2010, and is once again based in Adelaide. Armstrong's return to professional cycling at the bike race earlier this year boosted the attendance over previous years by about 50%.
Even a year after his announced return to cycling, Armstrong is still a big draw. His bike ride around Dublin after the close of his cancer summit there drew more than 1,000 bicyclists. Although he had hinted at a ride in Dublin's Phoenix Park earlier in the week, he gave the final details only hours before he set off.
Team roster
The 37-year-old cyclist is expected to have to same star power in Australia next year. The big question is, who will be on the RadioShack team?
Many cyclists have been associated with the formation of the team since it was announced toward the end of the Tour de France this year, but no official announcement is expected before next week.
In spite of no official word from the team, there's been no end to leaks and speculation on identities of Armstrong's new teammates.
Bruyneel confirmed
The one confirmed member of Team RadioShack is team manager Johan Bruyneel, who oversaw all 7 of Armstrong's Tour de France victories, as well as two for teammate Alberto Contador.
On Wednesday, VeloNews reported Sébastien Rosseler and Gert Steegmans, both of Belgium, have signed with Team RadioShack. Rosseler is currently on QuickStep and Steegmans is without a team after refusing to sign certain doping documents for the Katusha team.
Earlier, team director sportif Dick Demol said Tomas Vaitkus of Lithuania would probably join the team, as would Switzerland's Grégory Rast.
Landis speculation
Armstrong recently sparked speculation that Floyd Landis, who served a two-year suspension after doping in the 2006 Tour de France, would join the Radio Shack team. Landis told ESPN, however, that it's unlikely that he can get out of his current contract with the OUCH cycling team.
Earlier James Raia gave a rundown of Team RadioShack possibilities.
The list of US cyclists included Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner, his current teammates on Team Astana, and Columbia's George Hincapie, the only cyclist to accompany Armstrong to all seven of the Tour de France victories.
Also Andreas Kloden, Sergio Paulinho, and Simon Gerrans.
Time will tell how many of these cyclists make the jump to Team RadioShack. It should make the next few weeks interesting.
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