Radioshack team owner Flavio Becca is reportedly in financial difficulties and that may now have forced him to take the decision to withdraw his team from all non-WorldTour events. Any definite decision hasn't been made but the team may disappear from the start list for races like Brussels Cycling Classic, Paris-Tours and Tour of Britain.
Radioshack enjoyed one of its finest moments yesterday when Chris Horner won the third stage of the Vuelta a Espana and took over the leader's jersey but for his teammates who aren't racing the Spanish grand tour, there will be few chances to continue the momentum. Team owner Flavio Becca has reportedly decided to withdraw the team from all non-WorldTour races for the remainder of the season.
Becca is a wealthy Luxembourgish businessman who set up the Leopard Trek team prior to the 2011 season. He is reportedly in financial difficulties and had sold his cycling team license to Trek who will take over the running of the team from next season.
To limit his costs for the remainder of this season, he now plans to reduce the team's race schedule to just include WorldTour races which they are obliged to attend due to their ProTeam status. This means that the team may miss races like Brussels Cycling Classic, Paris-Tours and Tour of Britain which they had all planned to race.
“It is indeed a question of money,” spokesman Tim Vanderjeugd told Sportwereld. “That's why we cannot ride a number of smaller races. To not start in the World Tour races is not an option. We would lose our license.”
Left on the calendar is now only theGP Ouest France in Plouay (September 1st), the GP Cycliste de Québec, the GP Cycliste de Montréal (September 13th and 15th respectively), Il Lombardia (October 6th) and the Tour of Beijing (Oct 11th – 15th) which leaves very few racing days for the riders who aren't racing the Vuelta. It may also compromise the chances at the world championships for the riders who had hoped to get selected for that event.
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