T-Mobile sacks Ludwig

cyclingheroes said:

eurosport.de this morning: Ofcourse T-Mobile can't sack Olaf Ludwig, but they terminated the contract with the Olaf Ludwig Cycling GmbH. Olaf Ludwig has the pro tour liscense but the UCI gave strong signals that T-Mobile would get a liscense immediatly if they ask for it:

How does that work?

I would think the sponsor would have a contract with the team owner and the team team owner would have a contract with the ProTour, with all the riders having a contract with the team owner. The ProTour also requires a financial guarantee from the sponsor so you don't have situations that have occurred in the past where cyclists do not get paid. If the ProTour can just dump a team then it seems to destroy one of the reasons the ProTour was set up in the first place. With all the contracts the situation would be very messy.

Bro Deal said:

How does that work?

I would think the sponsor would have a contract with the team owner and the team team owner would have a contract with the ProTour, with all the riders having a contract with the team owner. The ProTour also requires a financial guarantee from the sponsor so you don't have situations that have occurred in the past where cyclists do not get paid. If the ProTour can just dump a team then it seems to destroy one of the reasons the ProTour was set up in the first place. With all the contracts the situation would be very messy.

It's reported one pro tour license will be free soon (Phonak), now i also understand why Scharping, president of the German cycling federation and former German defence minister is making statements all the time that the UCI has to throw Phonak out of the pro-tour....
Phonaks only has a license untill the end of this year but my Swiss contacts and the newspaper Blick said it could be that Phonak will stop sooner (live-radsport.ch, blick.ch) and the UCI send strong signals they have a license for TM if they want one...

There are also rumours what will happen with Ludwigs license... I will post that here as soon as it's confirmed (the Phonak thing was enough speculation for now😉 )

What about the riders' contracts? Will Ludwig still be liable to pay the riders?

I told the group that Ludwig would get sacked if Landis gets DQ'd and Perreiro wins the maillot jaune. That's because it highlighted the stupidity of letting Perreiro regain the time he lost. :p TM has sacked Ludwig even before the B test. :p

musette said:

What about the riders' contracts? Will Ludwig still be liable to pay the riders?

I told the group that Ludwig would get sacked if Landis gets DQ'd and Perreiro wins the maillot jaune. That's because it highlighted the stupidity of letting Perreiro regain the time he lost. :p TM has sacked Ludwig even before the B test. :p

I don't know if Ludwig will be able to pay the riders without TM.

Ludwigs sacking has nothing to do with TM tactics during the TdF.

Edit: bad spelling...

Ludwig denies being sacked:
eurosport.detp sto934163.shtmlOpen ↗

Other sources say there is a big battle inside the team

I am intrigued - Phonak's pro licence transfers to TMO - what happens to the riders on Phonak's books? What happens to TMO's riders on Ludwig's books? Maybe you cant say yet but this gets more and more twisted.

Since this whole sorry affair these past few weeks I have to thank this site and certain members of the forum for sensible not sensational posts. The majority of the reporting by so called journo's on other sites, magazines, newspapers, radio, TV and forums are just plain lazy, wrong, inaccurate causing an absolute media frenzy. If someone or some organisation does not take charge of pro cycling I am afraid we the fans will lose the sport we love and the memories we have of great racing, which is so sad. The in fighting and blaming each other between the ASO/UCI/WADA/Sponsors/Teams and media is pathetic. The riders do not seem to have a voice in all this - I thought there was a riders union but they dont seem to have any say. Surely the above organisations and more espeically the sponsors and teams (who make money out the riders) can see they must put a stop to the media frenzy and in figthing and take a stand on how pro cycling will go forward now. The way the details of Operation Puerto leaked out through the media was in my opinion outrageous. Sorry about the rant and I probably should have posted this somewhere else but I have just about had enough of all this. I am sitting at home tonight in England, sad as I was booked to go with fellow fans to Hamburg tonight to watch the HEW tomorrow but we boycotted the tour de france once Ullrich, Basso and Vino where out and will do the same tomorrow. Appreicate you guys - (and you know who you are!) for taking the time to keep us fans up to speed on what is really happening.

Tonight an article was published ( radsport-aktiv.desportnews 39839.htmOpen ↗ ) which said

"a termination of the contract between T-Mobile and Olaf Ludwigs Cycling GmbH isn't decided yet". There have been talks between the two parties and more talks will follow next week.

It seems more and more likely TM wants to get rid of Ludwig.

foxvi said:

I am intrigued - Phonak's pro licence transfers to TMO - what happens to the riders on Phonak's books? What happens to TMO's riders on Ludwig's books? Maybe you cant say yet but this gets more and more twisted.

Since this whole sorry affair these past few weeks I have to thank this site and certain members of the forum for sensible not sensational posts. The majority of the reporting by so called journo's on other sites, magazines, newspapers, radio, TV and forums are just plain lazy, wrong, inaccurate causing an absolute media frenzy. If someone or some organisation does not take charge of pro cycling I am afraid we the fans will lose the sport we love and the memories we have of great racing, which is so sad. The in fighting and blaming each other between the ASO/UCI/WADA/Sponsors/Teams and media is pathetic. The riders do not seem to have a voice in all this - I thought there was a riders union but they dont seem to have any say. Surely the above organisations and more espeically the sponsors and teams (who make money out the riders) can see they must put a stop to the media frenzy and in figthing and take a stand on how pro cycling will go forward now. The way the details of Operation Puerto leaked out through the media was in my opinion outrageous. Sorry about the rant and I probably should have posted this somewhere else but I have just about had enough of all this. I am sitting at home tonight in England, sad as I was booked to go with fellow fans to Hamburg tonight to watch the HEW tomorrow but we boycotted the tour de france once Ullrich, Basso and Vino where out and will do the same tomorrow. Appreicate you guys - (and you know who you are!) for taking the time to keep us fans up to speed on what is really happening.

I can understand the way you feel and think but in my opinion it's not good to boycot cycling races. In Germany a group of cyclingfans is working on plans to show up at one of the stages of the Tour of Germany and protest (without disturbing the race).

More TM news:

According to tomorrows Sunday edition of Die Welt Andreas Klöden and Steffen Wesemann where skipped by TM from the original TM startlist of the Cyclassics (Pro-tour) because they showed too much support for Jan Ullrich publicly..

welt.de978365.htmlOpen ↗

Seems that there is a big fight at TM behind the curtains.... Funny that Kessler will start tomorrow as he was the first one who dedicated his TdF stage win to Jan.

cyclingheroes said:

Funny that Kessler will start tomorrow as he was the first one who dedicated his TdF stage win to Jan.

They are letting Kessler race because he is going to win tomorrow. That guy is an animal.

This is a team that cannot stand against itself. Such a shame as it was dominant team.
I wonder if we are going into a period of predominantly weak teams?

TM is stupid if Kessler and Kloden are being withheld from races. It only hurts the team if their stars are not racing.

jhuskey said:

I wonder if we are going into a period of predominantly weak teams?

Well, then wouldn't they be the strong teams? 🙄

The leaders for the DTour for TMO have been announced as Sinkewitz with backup from Gerdemann. No place for Kloden. Not knowing the all the facts but on the surface it really does look like TMO team is in major turmoil.

Any news on where the discussions with Ulle and TMO are? See after four weeks of my not getting involved with rumours I cant help myself.

And as for not going to Hamburg - I do stand by our decision not to go. I know this is sport and much worse things are happening in the world at this moment but sport does get to you doesnt it and I just am hurt and sadden by the treatment of riders and fans by the governing bodies and media at the moment.

musette said:

TM is stupid if Kessler and Kloden are being withheld from races. It only hurts the team if their stars are not racing.

Kessler will start today, but not at the Tour of Germany. It's Wesemann and Klöden who are not allowed to start. Klöden gave Jan again and again support in the media in the last 2 weeks, Wesemann was in the Swiss newspaper Blick.. training with Jan and the next day he told the German newspaper Bild that Jan will probebly go to the US. TM didn't like that.

TM is in major trouble.

[quote="musette"]TM is stupid.

There, I edited your post to make it completely accurate. My sources tell me that it is not very likely that any of the older riders will remain with T-Mobile.

Apparently there was a meeting this afternoon of executives for german cycling, also participated head of T-Mobile, with Christian Frommert making a statemnt about how recent events made them 'react'. Press agency says that was decided to start a new plan including 'amelioration of controls, federal following of the riders (like in France) and a new anti-doping law.
They are supposed to meet again on august 10th.

(source press agency)

TM sacked announced during the Hamburg cyclassics that they terminated the contract with the Olaf Ludwig Cycling GmbH (GmbH = German for limited) from october 31. Ludwig reacted angry at German TV saying he heard the news while driving the team car behind the peloton. Matthias Kessler was interviewed after the race and said (looking very angry as well): "well we will see if T-Mobile took the right decision or not".

Frommert, spokesman of the T-Mobile company, gave a statement and said the company had no faith in the team management, they had differences about the future strategy of the team and the way how the doping issue was handled. Ludwig said last week that he could work with Jan Ullrich again if Ullrich would proof his innocence.

New manager will be Bob Stapleton. Stapleton was the founder of Voicestream, which is oprating under the name T-Mobile USA now. He is also manager of the T-Mobile womens team. Rolf Aldag will be the new ds.

It's unclear if TM will buy Ludwig out (in order to get his pro-tour license) or Ludwig will search a new sponsor in order to manage the team (with his pro-tour license) with that new sponsors. On German TV (ARD) it was said that there are rumours that T-Mobile will get the pro-tour license of Phonak in the 2007 season.

Edit: another interview with Frommert (TM company spokesman) on German tv. Frommert said that TM requested their own pro-tour license for the new TM team at the UCI.

cyclingheroes said:

T
Edit: another interview with Frommert (TM company spokesman) on German tv. Frommert said that TM requested their own pro-tour license for the new TM team at the UCI.

So if Ludwig can put together a sponsorship deal maybe the older riders stay together. They would probably take great pleasure in kicking the [censored] out of what remains of the T-Mobile team while racing. We could see the type of rivalry we have seen between Belgian teams in the past.