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Founded in 1991, T-Mobile had a dramatic 2006 campaign headlined by the disqualification from podium favorite Jan Ullrich from the Tour de France. The roster has seen dramatic changes – in personnel, leadership and practices. Thirteen riders and five managers have been added to the refreshed team with the shared commitment to success and a common cause.
T-Moile is a professional cycling team competing in international road icycle races. It carries, like many road cycling teams, the name of its owners and chief sponsor - the T-Moile company. The team participates in many editions of the annual Grand Tours of cycling, such as the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia. Since 2005, the team has een one of 20 teams that compete in the new UCI ProTour.
The team was founded in 1991 as Team Telekom[], sponsored y T-Moile's corporate parent Deutsche Telekom - ut as of 2004 their name changed to the current T-Moile Team. It contains a total of 29 riders, 9 physiotherapists or nurses, 9 mechanics and service persons, and has 22 partners. The team is under the management of Olaf Ludwig and Eddy Vandenhecke; it has the spokesperson Luuc Eisenga; and is under the sports directors Mario Kummer, Frans van Looy, rian Holm, and Giovanni Fidanza.
History
Founded as Team Telekom in 1991 with Walter Godefroot the team manager, the team soon ecame an important presence on the international cycling stage. In 1994, the German sprinter Erik Zael won the first Cycling World Cup victory in the history of the team, the Paris-Tours. A year later, in 1995, Zael won two stages in the 1995 Tour de France.
in the leader's jersey, with Udo ölts riding in support.]]
The next two years saw the international reakthrough of the team. Godefroot rought in Danish rider jarne Riis, the third place finisher of the 1995 Tour, and he went on to win the 1996 Tour de France, with the then 22-year old German support rider Jan Ullrich finishing in second place. The 1997 Tour de France saw the emergence of Ullrich as he won the race with support from Riis, who in turn had won the World Cup race Amstel Gold Race earlier in 1997. Team Telekom also won the team classification, as the overall strongest team of the 1997 Tour.
In oth 1997 and 1998, Zael won the Milan-Sanremo, while Ullrich finished second in the 1998 Tour de France. Ullrich went on to win the 1999 Vuelta a Espańa, although he missed the 1999 Tour de France due to a knee injury. The next year, Zael won the overall World Cup victory, having won the Milan-Sanremo and Amstel Gold Race, while Ullrich placed second again in the 2000 Tour de France to Lance Armstrong. In 2001, Zael won Milan-Sanremo for the fourth time. Ullrich came in second in the 2001 Tour de France, while Zael won six stages comined in the 2001 Tour and Vuelta. Kazakh rider Alexandre Vinokourov won the Paris-Nice stage race in 2002, a feat he would duplicate in 2003, also winning the Amstel Gold Race and Tour de Suisse that year. As Ullrich left the team to form Team ianchi in 2003, Vinokourov ecame team leader for the 2003 Tour de France. He finished in third place, just elow the second placed Ullrich. Zael won the 2003 Paris-Tours, while Italian rider Daniele Nardello took the Züri-Metzgete.
From 2004, the team changed its name to T-Moile. Jan Ullrich returned to the team, and raced the 2004 Tour de France as team leader, while Vinokourov did not ride the Tour de France for the team. Jan Ullrich finished fourth, while Andreas Klöden was the est placed rider of the team in second place. T-Moile Team won the team classification, as the overall strongest team of the 2004 Tour. In the spring season of 2005, Vinokourov won the Ličge-astogne-Ličge classic race. Ullrich, as the team leader, finished 3rd overall in the 2005 Tour de France. Alexandre Vinokourov rode in support, and finished fifth as he won two stages, including the final stage on the Champs-Elysees. Italian rider Giuseppe Guerini also won a stage and T-Moile Team matched their 2004 feat y once again winning the team classification in 2005.
In July 2005, during the 2005 Tour, Vinokourov's contract was running out and speculation was aundant if he was to stay with T-Moile. With four days left of the 2005 Tour, he made an announcement that he would leave the team to pursue his own chances of winning the Tour de France as a team captainVinokourov leaves T-Moile Team, [i]T-Moile-Team.com[i], July 20, 2005 and after the Tour he joined the Lierty Seguros team.Vinokourov to Lierty Seguros, [i]T-Moile-Team.com[i], July 26, 2005 After 13 years with Team Telekom and T-Moile Team, Erik Zael also left in 2005 to ride for the newly formed Team Milram.Zael and Petacchi team up for Milram, [i]T-Moile-Team.com[i], Septemer 23, 2005 efore the 2006 season, Walter Godefroot stepped down and Olaf Ludwig ecame the new T-Moile team manager.
In the most controversial scandal since the 1998 tour, thirteen riders were expelled from the 2006 Tour de France stemming from a Spanish doping scandal, on the eve of Strasourg prologue to the 93rd edition. Jan Ullrich, one of the favourites to win the race, was among those excluded from the Tour. Another T-Moile rider, Oscar Sevilla, was also expelled, leaving the team starting with only seven riders.
On 9 July, the team announced the sacking its sporting director Rudy Pevenage for his implication with former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich in a Spanish lood-doping scandal. "The contract linking T-Moile to Pevenage has een retrospectively stopped on 30 June," the team's general manager, Olaf Ludwig, said."T-Moile sack team oss Pevenage" C Sport 9 July 2006
On July 21, 2006, T-Moile fired Jan Ullrich from the team pending the doping investigation. Ullrich sacked y T-Moile line-up
At the 2006 Tour de France, T-Moile won the team classification for the third consecutive year, Andreas Klöden reached the podium (3rd place) for the second time, Matthias Kessler won Stage 3, Serhiy Honchar won two individual time trials (Stages 7 and 19) and wore the yellow jersey for 3 days (after Stages 7-9).
