The
Discovery Channel pro cycling team has announced the addition of two riders,
Antonio “Tony” Cruz and Brian Vandborg to its 2007 team roster. Cruz
returns to the Discovery Channel squad where he was a member for five years
(2001-2005) while Vandborg comes to Discovery from the Danish CSC Team where he
raced for three seasons.
Sports
Director Johan Bruyneel was happy about his recent additions to the squad,
commenting, “Brian and Tony both come to our Team with a high-level of
professionalism and a proven history. I know that we will be able to count
on these guys throughout the entire season in a variety or
races.”
Bruyneel
added, “With Tony, I’m happy to have him back with us as I know he left for
personal reasons. It was an easy decision for me to make in re-signing
him. Brian, on the other hand, is someone new to our Team but not an
unknown to me. I have watched him for a few years now and his impressive
World Championships Time Trial only confirmed to me that he was a rider I wanted
on our Team.”
Both
Vandborg and Cruz come to the Discovery Channel Team with experience and success
at all levels of the Sport. The 25 year-old Vandborg joins the Discovery
Channel Team after a successful 2006 campaign where he was crowned as the Danish
National Time Trial Champion and finished his season with a near podium at the
World Championships in the Time Trial event, placing fourth. Additionally,
Vandborg won a stage at the 2005 Tour de Georgia, a race won by Discovery’s Tom
Danielson.
Vandborg
is optimistic that he will continue to win under Bruyneel’s watch. “Johan has a
great reputation for developing riders and I am excited to work with him and be
a part of this team. There are so many great riders on Discovery and I know I
will have opportunities to learn from guys and be
successful.”
Cruz has
experienced success both internationally and domestically, most recently winning
the Tour de Nez (Reno, NV) and
finishing third at the US Pro Criterium Championship. Under Bruyneel’s
leadership, Cruz was part of the winning teams at the 2005 Tour de Georgia and
Giro d’Italia and won a stage win at the Tour de L’Ain (2004). Prior to
joining USPS/Discovery, Cruz represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in
Sydney, Australia.
After
spending the 2006 season racing domestically in the States, Tony commented about
his return to the Pro Tour ranks. “After only 1-year away I realized just
how much I missed European racing, in countries like Belgium and in
races like Paris-Roubaix. I’m happy there was an opportunity for Johan to bring
me back to the Discovery Team.”
Cruz and
Vandborg are the seventh and eighth riders to join the 2007 squad. Other
recent additions to the Team include: Levi Leipheimer, Sergio Paulinho, Tomas
Vaitkus, Uros Murn, Gianni Meersman, and the Team’s first Chinese rider, Fuyu
Li. The Team expects to finalize the 2007 roster over the next two
months.
