T-Mobile Team facts for kids
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Serhiy Honchar riding the Prologue at the 2006 Tour de France
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| Team information | ||
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| UCI code | TMO | |
| Registered |  Germany |
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| Founded | 1991 | |
| Discipline(s) | Road | |
| Status | ProTour | |
| Key personnel | ||
| General manager | Bob Stapleton | |
| Team name history | ||
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Team Telekom
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The T-Mobile Team (also known as TMO) was a professional cycling team. They raced in big international road bicycle races. Their main sponsor was the T-Mobile company.
The team competed in famous races like the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia. From 2005, they were one of 20 teams in the new UCI ProTour. This was a top series of races organized by the UCI.
In December 2007, T-Mobile decided to stop sponsoring the team. They ended their support right away, even though they had planned to continue until 2010.
The team started in 1991 as Team Telekom. It was sponsored by Deutsche Telekom, which is T-Mobile's parent company. In 2004, their name changed to Team T-Mobile. The team had many riders and support staff, including mechanics and nurses.
Contents
Team History
Team Telekom's Early Years
The team began as Team Telekom in 1991. Walter Godefroot was the team manager. Soon, the team became very important in international cycling.
In 1994, German sprinter Erik Zabel won a big race called the Paris-Tours. This was the team's first UCI Road World Cup victory. A year later, in 1995, Zabel won two stages in the 1995 Tour de France.
The next two years were a huge success for the team. Godefroot brought in Danish rider Bjarne Riis. Riis had finished third in the 1995 Tour. He then went on to win the 1996 Tour de France. Jan Ullrich was a support rider for Riis and finished second in that race.
In the 1997 Tour de France, Ullrich won the race. Riis helped him, and Riis had already won the Amstel Gold Race that year. Team Telekom also won the team classification. This meant they were the strongest team overall in the 1997 Tour.
More Victories and Changes
In both 1997 and 1998, Zabel won the Milan-Sanremo race. Ullrich finished second in the 1998 Tour de France. Ullrich then won the 1999 Vuelta a España. However, he missed the 1999 Tour de France because of a knee injury.
The next year, Zabel won the overall World Cup. He had won the Milan-Sanremo and Amstel Gold Race. Ullrich placed second again in the 2000 Tour de France to Lance Armstrong. In 2001, Zabel won Milan-Sanremo for the fourth time. Ullrich came in second in the 2001 Tour de France. Zabel won six stages combined in the 2001 Tour and Vuelta.
Kazakh rider Alexandre Vinokourov won the Paris–Nice stage race in 2002. He won it again in 2003. That year, he also won the Amstel Gold Race and Tour de Suisse. Ullrich left the team in 2003 to form Team Bianchi. So, Vinokourov became the team leader for the 2003 Tour de France. He finished in third place, just behind Ullrich, who was second. Zabel won the 2003 Paris-Tours. Italian rider Daniele Nardello won the Züri-Metzgete.
The T-Mobile Era
In 2004, the team changed its name to T-Mobile. Jan Ullrich came back to the team. He raced the 2004 Tour de France as the team leader. Vinokourov did not ride in that Tour. Ullrich finished fourth. Andreas Klöden was the best rider for the team, finishing in second place. Team T-Mobile was again the strongest team overall.
In the spring of 2005, Vinokourov won the Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic race. Ullrich, as the team leader, finished 3rd overall in the 2005 Tour de France. Alexandre Vinokourov rode to support him. He finished fifth and won two stages, including the final stage on the Champs-Élysées. Italian rider Giuseppe Guerini also won a stage. The team won the team classification again.
In July 2005, during the Tour, Vinokourov's contract was ending. People wondered if he would stay with T-Mobile. With four days left of the 2005 Tour, he announced he would leave. He wanted to try to win the Tour de France as a team captain. After the Tour, he joined the Liberty Seguros team. After 13 years with Team Telekom and T-Mobile Team, Erik Zabel also left in 2005. He went to ride for the new Team Milram. Before the 2006 season, Olaf Ludwig took over from Walter Godefroot as team manager.
Film: Hell on Wheels
In 2005, a film called Hell on Wheels was released. It showed the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France in 2003. The film followed the then-Team Telekom during this famous race.
Other pages
| Teams on the UCI ProTour (2007) | |
|---|---|
| Ag2r Prévoyance • Astana Team • Bouygues Télécom • Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone • Crédit Agricole • Team CSC • Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team • Euskaltel-Euskadi • La Française des Jeux • Gerolsteiner • Caisse d'Epargne • Lampre-Fondital • Liquigas • Team Milram • Predictor-Lotto • Quick·Step-Innergetic • Rabobank • Saunier Duval-Prodir • Team T-Mobile • Unibet.com See also: UCI ProTour • UCI ProTour 2007 • 2006-2007 UCI Africa Tour • 2006-2007 UCI America Tour • 2006-2007 UCI Asia Tour • 2006-2007 UCI Europe Tour • 2006-2007 UCI Oceania Tour |
Images for kids
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T-Mobile-Team, 2004 Tour de France
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George Hincapie and Mark Cavendish in the green jersey during Stage 3 of the 2009 Tour de France
See also
In Spanish: HTC-Highroad para niños
