U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team history
The
US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team and later named the
US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team presented by Berry Floor operated from 1996 through 2004. The
United States Postal Service was the title (primary) sponsor from 1996 through 2004 and the team was nicknamed the "Blue Train". Berry Floor, a Belgian flooring company, was the secondary sponsor, also known as a Presenting Sponsor. Domestically the USPS Pro Cycling Team was presented by Alloc, the American subsidiary of Berry Floor.
Lance Armstrong won six Tours de France (1999–2004) (that were later stripped) with US Postal, and in 2003
Roberto Heras—at that time a US Postal rider—won the
Vuelta a España. Armstrong went on to win a seventh Tour de France in 2005 (that was later also stripped), after the USPS contract and sponsorship ended. The US Postal Service announced that it would cease sponsorship at the end of the 2004 racing season when its eight-year contract expired. It had previously been under fire for the expenditure from organizations such as
Postal Watch, a website critical of the United States Postal Service. Legitimate problems of mismanagement and sloppy accounting were pointed out by the Postal Service itself, via the USPS Office of the Inspector General. Before the expiration of the USPS contract, Armstrong insisted that he would only continue to ride with the USPS team structure. This demand was met on June 15, 2004, when
Discovery Networks stepped in and agreed to sponsor the team for the next three years as the
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team.
1996 results With the help of
Thomas Weisel and
Eddie Borysewicz, the United States Postal Service begins its reign as title sponsor to what has become the most successful cycling team from the United States. Borysewicz served as the team's
directeur sportif and the team raced mainly in domestic events in the United States.
1997 results Thomas Weisel brought in
Mark Gorski, the
1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in the Men's 1000 m Sprint (Scratch) event, as
team manager. Due in large part to Russian
Viatcheslav Ekimov and his key stage wins at
Paris–Nice and the
Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, the USPS squad got its first invitation to ride in the
Tour de France.
1998 results Lance Armstrong joined the US Postal team in late 1997, when returning to professional cycling following his cancer treatments.
1999 results 2000 results 2001 results In 2001, the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team was named the
USOC Team of the Year. Also, Armstrong was named USOC SportsMan of the Year, which he also won in 1999.
2002 results 2003 results 2004 results == Early history and notable wins ==