Phonak Hearing Systems
| Phonak Hearing Systems | |
|
|
| Team data | |
| UCI code | PHO |
| nationality |
 Switzerland
|
| License | ProTeam |
| operator | ARcycling AG |
| First season | 2000 |
| Last season | 2006 |
| discipline | Street |
| Wheel manufacturer | Scott (2000-2001), BMC (2002-2006) |
| staff | |
| General manager |
Jean-Jacques Loup (2000–2002) Urs Freuler (2002–2004) John Lelangue (2005–2006)
 |
| Team manager |
John Lelangue
|
| Sportl. ladder |
 Jacques Michaud
|
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Phonak Hearing Systems was a Swiss cycling team that competed in the UCI ProTour in 2005 and 2006 .
The main sponsor was the hearing aid manufacturer Phonak , but the budget was also financed by secondary sponsors and team owner Andy Rihs . Team manager and founder in 2000 was Jean-Jacques Loup , who previously headed the PMU Romand and Post Swiss team . In 2004 he was replaced by Urs Freuler , whereupon Jean-Jacques Loup joined the Oktos-St. Quentin founded. After several doping cases in the team, those responsible decided to disband the team. On October 14, 2006, the team contested their last race at the Tour of Lombardy .
history
founding
Behind the Phonak Cycling Team was the hearing aid entrepreneur Andy Rihs , who was involved in the Phonak company . Andy's brother Hans-Ueli had been interested in cycling for many years and organized a so-called Tour de Phonak every year , in which company employees could take part. Andy Rihs' interest in cycling also began in the 1990s, which he wanted to use to advertise Phonak hearing aids. A first attempt to become a sponsor in a professional cycling team failed in 1998 because of the Festina scandal at the Tour de France , whereupon the American Jim Ochowicz , who was to lead the new team, initially withdrew from professional cycling.
In 1999, Phonak um Rihs signed on as a sponsor for a new Swiss team, initially for three seasons, to be built up by Jean-Jacques Loup , who had previously led the PMU Romand and Post Swiss Team . This sponsorship and Loup's commitment was announced at the Post Swiss team's end-of-season event at the end of 1999. Shortly thereafter, the team's jerseys were developed by the Italian manufacturer Castelli, on which a large ear could be seen as a symbol for hearing aids. It was also determined that the team should start with the slogan "We race for better hearing".
In the small town of Montmagny , the Phonak Service Course with workshop and material warehouse was built, while team boss Loup signed 13 young drivers for the team's first season.
2000 season
→ Phonak Cycling Team / 2000 season
successes
The greatest success for the team was the victory of Floyd Landis at the Tour de France 2006 , which Landis was stripped of because of proven doping also in the last instance by the international sports court CAS in Lausanne in June 2008. Until September 2007, Landis was still the winner, which was due to the ongoing proceedings of the US Cycling Association. In September 2007 Landis was finally banned for two years for his doping offense and his Tour de France victory by the UCI was revoked.
Doping affairs
The team hit the headlines several times because Tyler Hamilton , Santiago Perez and Oscar Camenzind were convicted of doping in 2004. At the end of November 2004, the UCI refused the Phonak team a Pro Tour license because of "lack of consistency in the anti-doping fight" . It was not until the beginning of February 2005 that the team received a license for 2005 and 2006 after a ruling by the International Sports Court (CAS) in Lausanne .
In 2006 the Phonak team hit the headlines again when Sascha Urweider was convicted of doping . After the doctor Eufemiano Fuentes was arrested in May 2006 in the course of the so-called Operación Puerto , the team suspended Santiago Botero and the Giro runner-up José Enrique Gutierrez , both of whom are said to have been in contact with Fuentes. The most recent case is Floyd Landis , who was released without notice by the team on August 5, 2006 after positive A and B samples.
retreat
Phonak has announced that it will pursue other priorities in sponsorship in the future , such as musical events. From 2007, the Swiss racing team should therefore have a new main and name sponsor. ARcycling AG, the operating company of the Swiss ProTeam , and Barclays Global Investors NA, based in San Francisco ( USA ), had signed a three-year contract (2007–2009). The team should start in 2007 under the Barclays brand " iShares ". The new main sponsor had been a co-sponsor since last year. Due to the recent doping affair around Floyd Landis , the sponsors withdrew from the takeover, whereby the team was completely dissolved at the end of the 2006 season. In September 2007, Landis was finally suspended for his doping offense and his Tour de France victory was revoked.
2006 season
Successes in the ProTour
| date | run | driver |
|---|---|---|
| 5th - 12th March |
 Overall ranking Paris-Nice
|
Floyd Landis |
| 14th June |
 5th stage Tour de Suisse
|
Steve Morabito |
| 20th of July |
17th stage Tour de France
|
Floyd Landis |
| September 6th |
.svg){kind=small} 3rd stage Tour of Poland
|
Fabrizio Guidi |
Successes in the Continental Circuits
| date | run | driver |
|---|---|---|
| February 22 |
 3rd stage California Tour
|
Floyd Landis |
| 19.-26. February |
Overall ranking California Tour
|
Floyd Landis |
| 20th of April |
3rd stage Tour de Georgia
|
Floyd Landis |
| 18.-23. April |
Overall ranking Tour de Georgia
|
Floyd Landis |
| May 7th |
 2nd stage Clásica Alcobendas
|
Aurélien Clerc |
| July 9 |
 7th stage tour of Austria
|
Fabrizio Guidi |
| July 25th |
 2nd stage Tour de la Région Wallone
|
Fabrizio Guidi |
| July 27th |
4th stage of the Tour de la Région Wallone
|
Fabrizio Guidi |
| 24.-28. July |
Overall ranking Tour de la Region Wallone
|
Fabrizio Guidi |
Team 2006
See also
literature
- Andrea Kobler-Kobelt, Georges Lüchinger: Phonak green and yellow passion on two wheels . 1st edition. AS-Verlag, Zurich 2007, ISBN 978-3-909111-36-7 .
Web links
- Phonak Hearing Systems in the ProCyclingStats.com database