Le Tour: Barloworld are back!
26 March 2008
South African-sponsored Team Barloworld have received and accepted an invitation to contest the 2008 Tour de France.
It is the second year in succession that the team has been invited to take part in the world's most prestigious cycle race. The invitation was extended not only because of Barloworld's success in the Tour de France last year, but also because they have already won six times in South Africa and Europe this year.
Team Barloworld have also been invited to take part in the Giro d'Italia, as well as a number of the other classic races, including the Paris-Roubaix, Fleche Wallonne, and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
'Just reward'
"Barloworld as sponsors are ecstatic at receiving the news and are looking forward to competing in the Tour de France again," said Chris Fisher, head of corporate marketing at Barloworld. "The invitation to Le Tour is just reward for Team Barloworld's continuous commitment to
professionalism in everything that they do."
It's no wonder that Fisher is delighted at the invitation. With a cumulative audience of over 4.5-billion people last year, the Tour ranks as the third-largest sporting event in the world, making it a special stage for sponsors.
In 2007, Team Barloworld scored victories on the ninth stage through Mauricio Soler and the 11th stage through Robbie Hunter. In addition, Soler was crowned King of the Mountains. It was a brilliant showing by the UCI continental team, which outperformed many of the higher ranked UCI Pro Tour teams.
Tougher challenge
Fisher feels it could be difficult to match last year's great performances. "Last year the other teams in the race didn't really give us a chance. We used it to our advantage. This year our riders will be more closely marked, but our team is stronger than last year," he said.
Team Barloworld's manager, the highly respected Claudio Corti, will be required to select nine cyclists for the Tour de France. With a number of new additions having boosted the squad, it will be a tougher choice for the Italian this year, but it is a good "problem" to have.
Barloworld's line-up is Robbie Hunter, Mauricio Soler, Christian Pfannberger, Christopher Froome, Hugo Sabido, John-Lee Augustyn, Daryl Impey, Diego Caccia, Felix Cardenas, Gianpaolo Cheula, Paolo Longo Borghini, Geraint Thomas, Carlo Scognamiglio, Stephen Cummings, Baden Cooke, Moises Duenas Navado, Francesco Bellotti, Patrick Calcagni, Enrico Gasparotto and Marco Corti.
Commitment and passion
Chris Fisher likes what he sees in the team. "Team Barloworld think, act and compete on the international circuit all year round. It is the team's commitment, passion and the successful manner in which they combine teamwork with individual excellence that makes this team so special," he said.
"The support team behind the team contains a wealth of knowledge and experience. We call this our collective wisdom. When we pool our collective wisdom we are as competitive as any of the big budget teams. We are certainly not going all the way around France just for the pasta," Fisher concluded.
Team Barloworld will be one of three outfits from outside of the Pro Tour ranks at this year's Tour; the other two are France's Agritubel and the USA's Slipstream.
Anti-doping
The Americans are interesting choice because of their strict anti-doping stance; their riders are tested every two weeks, which ensures there is no chance of getting away with taking illegal substances. After the doping controversies that have plagued recent Tours de France, Slipstream seems like a safe selection.
In addition, Team Discovery, which produced last year's yellow jersey winner, Alberto Contador, has now been disbanded. Team Slipstream ensures American interest in the event.
Contador has joined Team Astana, but he won't be back to defend his title after the Tour organizers, Amaury Sport Organisation, chose not to extend an invitation to the Kazakh-sponsored and Luxembourg-based outfit because of a number of doping scandals involving it over the past two years.
SAinfo reporter and Team Barloworld
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