End of the high road for HTC

When HTC-Highroad team manager Bob Stapleton told reporters at the end of the Tour De France last month that there was no guarantee the team would be racing next year I think most cycling fans took it with a pinch of puncture repair chalk. Talking down a teams chances whilst concealing a hidden pot of gold is an old trick amongst professional sports administrators but this time there wasn't any bluffing.

In retrospect Thursday's announcement wasn't that great a shock that it might have been, when Cav announced on Monday that he knew his team for 2012 and then on Tuesday Geraint Thomas said he would be honoured to be Cav's lead out man we all put two and two together and came up with nine. Cav of course is playing things cool telling the waiting media that he has had several offers for 2012 and putting aside Sky's obvious interest I could actually see him fitting in at BMC or Garmin- Cervelo although the latter already have Tyler Farrar who isn't that far behind Cav in terms of speed,

HTC-Highroad were something special though and the sight of the train leading out Cav, particularly at Guegnon in 2010, was one of the sports great spectacles. In the ten years of its existence (it was previously called Team Telekom and then T-Mobile until 2004) the team won 484 races including 54 stages in the Grand Tours. As Team Telekom they actually had the winning rider in the 1996 Tour De France with Bjarne Riis, even better was the fact that Jan Ulrich came second, Ulrich also finished second in 1998. When the team changed its name in 2004 and Andreas Kloden finished second in the Tour De France.

As HTC the team won stages all across Europe and last October they announced a new deal with Specialised to supply frames, helmets and forks, unfortunately whilst they might have the bikes and the riders a new sponsor couldn't be found. There are now 29 riders and some 40 backroom staff looking for work, but you get the feeling looking at a roster that includes such names as Mark Cavendish, Mark Renshaw, Tony Martin, Matt Goss and the Velits twins, to name just six, that some teams will be looking at the demise of HTC as something of a windfall.

As Cav himself said, "I am obviously very disappointed that HTC-Highroad will no longer be a team. I am hugely indebted and incredibly grateful to my team-mates and all the staff for their support over the last five years and I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together."