(See also:
Live race and TV schedule for Tour Down Under
Jan. 11, 2010 — RadioShack roster for Tour Down Under
Dec. 10 — Lance Armstrong's tentative bike race schedule for 2010
Dec. 8 — Fashion statement from Team RadioShack at opening of training camp and the new Madone;
Nov. 29 — New Lance Armstrong book: Excerpts, TV and personal appearances)
Ever since Lance Armstrong announced the formation of Team RadioShack in July, the confirmed identities of bike riders on the roster have dribbled out like sprinters struggling across the finish of a mountain stage.
Team manager Johan Bruyneel has announced the final roster , identifying a 26-man team from 16 different countries. A large percentage of those bike riders came from Bruyneel's and Armstrong's former team, Astana.
The delay in making a final announcement stemmed from ongoing negotiations with the Kazakhstan-based team, currently the home of two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador.
Bruyneel said the team's main goal in 2010 is the Tour de France, although the team is expected to do well in other stage races as well as the one-day classics.
Among the big names that will make up the RadioShack roster: US cyclists Levi Leipheimer (right, three-time Tour of California champion and repeat top-10 Tour de France finisher) and Chris Horner, both from Astana.
Other US cyclists on the team are Matthew Busche, Jason McCartney and Bjorn Selander.
Other big names from Astana include Andreas Kloden, the German who finished 6th in 2009 Tour de France, and Yaroslav Popovych, a teammate of Armstrong on Astana and Discovery Channel.
[The UCI has granted RadioShack its Pro Tour license. That gives the US three ProTour cycling teams — RadioShack, Team Columbia and Garmin Slipstream. Good luck to them all.]
Speculation
In the weeks after Armstrong announced formation of the team, there was lots of speculation about some other cyclists who might join up.
Heading that list was American George Hincapie, the only cyclist to accompany Armstrong on all 7 of his Tour de France victories. While he was interested, Hincapie ended up going to BMC Racing.
Andy Schleck quickly dispeled rumors that he was transfer from Saxo Bank to RadioShack.
Another Astana rider, Haimar Zubeldia of Spain, was named as a RadioShack cyclist, but then it was announced he was staying back to ride with Contador in 2010. But there he is on the final roster for RadioShack, so he must have gotten his release for the contract.
Look for the bike team on the road in mid December for his first training camp in Arizona.
As of Nov. 23, the cyclists confirmed for RadioShack:
— Lance Armstrong (of course)
— Fumiyuki Beppu, Japan
— Sam Bewley, New Zealand, also from Trek-Livestrong development team
— Jani Brajkovic, Slovenia
— Matthew Busche, US
— Ben Hermans, Belgium
— Chris Horner, USA, formerly with Team Astana.
— Daryl Impey, South Africa, currently with Barloworld. The 24-year-old has been on rehab since a bike crash at Tour of Turkey this spring.
— Markel Irizar, Spain, currently with Euskaltel-Euskadi. (Armstrong supported him in this battle with testicular cancer a few years ago.)
— Andreas Klöden, Germany, formerly with Team Astana
— Levi Leipheimer, US cyclist currently riding with Astana
— Geoffroy Lequatre, France, 2008 Tour of Britain champion.
— Fuyu Li, China
— Tiago Machado, Portugal
— Jason McCartney, US
— Dmitriy Muravyev, Kazakhstan, formerly with Astana
— Sergio Paulinho, Portuguese, currently with Astana
— Yaroslav Popovych, Ukraine, formerly with Team Astana (also Discovery Channel 2005-7)
— Gregory Rast, Switzerland, formerly Astana
— Sebastien Rosseler, Belgium
— Ivan Rovny, Russia
— Jose Luis Rubiera, Spain, currently with Astana
— Bjorn Selander, US, from the Trek-Livestrong under 23 development cycling team
— Gert Steegmans, Belgium
— Tomas Vaitkus, Lithuania
— Haimar Zubeldia, Spain
Meanwhile, Viatcheslav Ekimov a former Russian cyclist with Olympic gold and silver medals among other prestigious accomplishments, is also jumping from Astana to help manage Team RadioShack, along with Bruyneel. Alain Gallopin and Dirk Demol also are heading to RadioShack from Astana.
You can find more updates at Facebook Team RadioShack or Twitter Team RadioShack. More Lance Armstrong news.
First reported July 28, 2009; last updated Nov. 24.
Major updates
Nov. 23, 2009 –– Bruyneel announced final roster
Oct. 16, 2009 — RadioShack granted UCI Pro Tour license (CyclingWeekly)
Oct. 15, 2009 —More RadioShack transfers confirmed (CyclingNews)
Oct. 3, 2009 — Chris Horner signs with Team RadioShack (The Oregonian)
Sept. 1, 2009 — Levi Leipheimer confirms he'll ride for RadioShack in 2010 (ESPN)
Sept. 1, 2009 — George Hincapie signs with BMC Team for 2010 and 2011 (VeloNews) (Armstrong had earlier confirmed that Hincapie would race with RadioShack)
Aug. 26, 2009 — 2010 Tour Down Under is first bike race for Team RadioShack; updating team roster
July 23, 2009 — Armstrong will ride for newly created Team RadioShack
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