HTC to lose several riders to Omega Pharma?
German André Greipel will have some familiar faces at Omega Pharma-Lotto next year. According to Belgian press, Spaniard Vicente Reynes will also make the jump from team HTC-Columbia to Belgium’s team Omega Pharma-Lotto.
Reynes helped Greipel win two stages at last weeks Tour of Poland. He was also a part of Greipel’s win this year at the Giro d’Italia and four stage wins last year at the Vuelta a España.
Over Reynes’ three years with Bob Stapleton’s American team, he failed to win, but did take several placings and was able to contribute to helping his team-mates win.
Stapleton received Greipel’s resignation letter last Saturday. Greipel went head to head several times over the last four years with team-mate and fellow sprinter, Mark Cavendish. Cavendish’s successes and their disagreements meant the team left Greipel out of the top races, including the Milano-Sanremo and the Tour de France.
Omega Pharma-Lotto has “a clear vision for further development of the team,” said Greipel in a press statement. It “is consistent with my personal athletic goals.”
Reynes, prior to HTC and Omega Pharma, rode for Spain’s Caisse d’Epargne/Illes Balears and Portugal’s LA Aluminios squad.
Some of Stapleton’s other riders may also make the switch with Reynes to the Belgian team, including German Marcel Sieberg, Australian Adam Hansen and Belgian Gert Dockx.
Stapleton secured Cavendish’s lead out men Bernhard Eisel and Mark Renshaw in the last two weeks and is close to offering Cavendish a new, improved contract through the end of 2012.
The team may also lose sporting goods store, Columbia as a sponsor by the end of this year, with mobile telephone company HTC kicking in extra funds.