You will find, below, the exclusive interview of Jonathan Vaughters, manager of the team TEAM Slipstream which will become Chipotle in 2008 with re-examined ambitions with the rise.
1) Which will the ambitions of your TEAM in 2008 be the program?
We will focus ourselves on the Lathe of France for which we hope to receive an invitation. We would like to take part in the other large turns in the future but not in 2008. We will lay also the stress in 2008 on the French calendar (Paris-Nice, Tour Med, Dauphiné Libéré...) and, obviously with Magnus (Backstedt) in the team, we will make efforts very well to be on Paris-Roubaix. The budget of the team will rise with a little less than 5,7 million euros. We devote a great part of this budget to the infrastructure, the recruitment of good trainers and nutritionnists chiefs, with the purchase of equipment for altitude, with tests in ' wind tunnel'... The runners which are in our team are there because they want to form part of something of innovator.
2) Discovery Channel, it is finished. You could be the only American team with the Turn of France. Did you already speak about the Turn of France 2008 with the organizers? Which was their reaction?
Yes, I discussed a little with Gilbert Ysern, Patrice Clerq and Christian Prudhomme of ASO. They seem very interested by the concept of the team. Patrice really appreciated our idea to gather all the runners in a city, which enables us to improve their drives and of always knowing where they are for controls anti-doping. It is like a team of football, everyone lives at the same place. In fact, I think that ASO likes this concept. Now, we must show to him that that gives results at the sporting level. One will see. I am not anxious.
3) the TEAM Chipotle is he candidate to form part of the teams of ProTour
In 2009, yes, we want to become a ProTour formation but not yet in 2008. We do not have the ambition to take part in the three large turns. It should not be forgotten that 50 % of our team consist of young Americans. These runners still miss experiment and they are not yet able to make large turns. We must let them develop at normal intervals.
4) will Kilian Patour form part of your team the next year? Which runners of manpower 2007 of the TEAM Slipstream will form part of the TEAM Chipotle in 2008?
Kilian does not want to go in Girona and I do not know if it will still form part of the team. I offered a contract to him but I want that it resides at Girona as the remainder of the team. One will see well. Approximately 12 of the 23 current runners will prolong in 2008. That will do much change but I am persuaded that these 12 runners will be ready to cross a step upwards.
5) do you Have still the hope to engage George Hincapie? Other French runners that Christophe Laurent will be recruited?
We tried to engage Hincapie but it decided to go elsewhere. We contacted Jerome Pineau but it will remain at Bouygues Telecom. The best French prefer to remain in a French formation. We found a French to try the adventure, in fact Christophe Laurent and I think that it will carry out good things within our team.
6) You did not engage yet a super leader for the large turns. Which are the runners which interest you in this field? Etes you interested by the arrival of runners like Contador, Leipheimer or Popovych?
Not, I am not interested by these runners. We wanted to build a team with the image of the three musketeers "All for one and for all" and not with a large leader of which everyone rolls for him. It would be against the team spirit. If one of our young elements with which we work becomes a large leader for the general classification in three or four years, then, we will change our manner of seeing. But, while waiting, we are a team which rolls for the runner of the day in form and which wants to be shown each day with the attack.
7) Your team devotes a significant part of her budget to the fight against doping. Can you explain us the policy of the TEAM Slipsteam to fight against doping?
We want simply a team clean. The tests which we carry out must ensure us that our runners really included/understood the message "NO DOPING". Moreover, if any member of the press has suspicions on a member of the team, it can ask us the data of the tests. We want to be transparent to 100 % and we want to make disappear all the mistrust appeared because of doping. The most important thing is to ensure us that our runners know that we can help them even at the time they do not roll well. We should not gain each race but we should never resort to doping. It is the message.
I think that the message related to the manner of managing is most important, this is why it is fundamental to join together everyone in Girona. We can thus see constantly which is not smelled well or which feels under pressure and we can thus react and do something for him. We can always have a trace of the blood values and we always know with how much they rise. It is not always easy for everyone to live joined together at the same place but we must make so that this project functions.
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