|
|
STAGE 13: TEAM OF THE DAY: SILENCE-LOTTO
June 25, 2008
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Silence-Lotto
Registered Nation: France
Bicycles: Ridley
Components: Campagnolo
Key Riders: Cadel Evans, Robbie McEwen
Title Sponsors: Omega Pharma anti-snoring treatment & Belgian National Lottery.
Lotto has a long history of cycling sponsorship, first appearing as a team title sponsor in 1985. For the majority of the team's history the squad has been primarily a classics team, with a focus on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, with the biggest victory in the 1994 Paris-Roubaix when Andrei Tchmil won horrendous conditions. Naturalized Belgian Tchmil remained the cornerstone of the team until he retired
in 2002 with wins in 1997 Paris-Tours , 1999 Milan SanRemo and overall World Cup win. In 2000 Tchmil beat arch-rival Johan Museeuw to win the Tour of Flanders for a final classics victory.
In 2002 the team began to shift focus with sprinter Robbie McEwen for Grand Tour results. McEwen won the Maillot Vert in 2002, and would repeat the feat in 2004 and 2006. In 2003, Lotto-Adecco and Domo-Farm Frites merged, creating the current team structure under the name of Lotto-Domo. Omega Pharma switched from Quick-Step to sponsor Lotto in 2005, called Davitamon-Lotto. 2005 also saw the arrival of Aussie Cadel Evans. In his first Tour de France, former mountain bike champion Evans rode to an impressive eighth place and in 2006 he rose to fourth overall. Last year saw Cadel Evans become a true contender at the Tour de France, winning a time trial stage and finishing second overall by a mere 23 seconds.
For 2008, Silence-Lotto is committed to helping Cadel Evans win the Tour de France, with Yaroslav Popovych and Dario Cioni for key support, while Robbie McEwen will be looking for more stage wins.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|