Rock Racing made a big splash earlier this year in announcing a potent line up for 2009. Among the newly signed stars were sprinters Baden Cooke and Ivan Dominguez, and young Australian William Walker. However, all three of the above stars have signed with different teams for 2009, leading to some confusion about the validity of the Rock roster for 2009.
It appeared earlier this year as though the Rock team would increase its exposure in Europe, but due to the enduring financial crisis, the Los Angeles-based team has scaled back its planned European assault. Instead, the team will rely on the mainstays from 2008 to carry it through 2009.
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The bright side of this occurrence is that US criterium champion Rahsaan Bahati will now have the chance to ride as part of the Rock pro outfit, and the affable sprinter will have a chance to defend his crit title next year. Still, losing the likes of Cooke, Dominguez and Walker will hurt the overall strength of the Rock team. Hopefully, veterans like Tyler Hamilton and Oscar Sevilla can carry the team in stage races, while "Fast Freddy" Rodriguez will fly the flag in the sprints. If not, 2009 could be a thin year for the Rock team.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Rock Racing Losing Big Names: Cooke, Dominguez, Walker Gone
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2 comments:
Bahati is still going to be on the outside looking in.
Rock replaced Walker with some other guy (http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=13865) and Cooke's departure doesn't help them one iota when it comes to the average age requirement.
Thanks for a great year of cycling news from one of the best names in all of cycling journalism. Everyone looks forward to even more from one of the top cycle racing sites on the whole net. Best of luck in 2009.
One of your big fans,
Lovell
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