[Internal14]

Speak your mind behind closed doors, under court order to tell the truth....the fricken media leaks a story....Lance has a hizzy fit....th enext thing you know Frankie's out of a job when he comes back from stoken Flyod the entire Tour.
Maybe United got mad that he wasn't slippen in add spots while on the mic for United Cycling?

Can't wait to hear the real reason of him getting 'let go'.

From VeloNews:
Frankie Andreu, co-director of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team has been fired, purportedly for missing a trip to Nevada's Tour de Nez in late June.

Andreu, who just completed a month-long reporting assignment at the Tour de France for the Outdoor Life Network, said he learned of his dismissal soon after returning to his home in Michigan.

"On July 25th, 2006, the day after I returned home from the Tour de France, I was informed that my contract was being terminated by the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team," Andreu said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday. "I was very surprised and disappointed to be told to leave especially after all the hard work of putting together this first year team. I know the team will continue their winning ways because it's a great group of riders. I wish them success."

 

[Internal14]

just checked V-news again and here's some more of the scoop...


Frankie Andreu, co-director of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team has been fired, purportedly for missing a trip to Nevada's Tour de Nez in late June.

Andreu, who just completed a month-long reporting assignment at the Tour de France for the Outdoor Life Network, said he learned of his dismissal soon after returning to his home in Michigan.

"On July 25th, 2006, the day after I returned home from the Tour de France, I was informed that my contract was being terminated by the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team," Andreu said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday. "I was very surprised and disappointed to be told to leave especially after all the hard work of putting together this first year team. I know the team will continue their winning ways because it's a great group of riders. I wish them success."

Contacted by VeloNews.com, Andreu said that team owner Sean Tucker told him that the dismissal was based on his failure to attend the three-day Nevada stage race, which runs from June 24-26.

"I had written Sean an e-mail telling him 'look, I just spent a week-and-a-half up in Philly, I'm going to be home for one day, then supposed to go to Tour de Nez - which will be a total of five days - and then, after being home for two days, I go to France for a month,'" Andreu said. "I just said I need to spend time with my family. It would have been really tough on our kids had I not stayed home that week."

Andreu recalls that Tucker suggested that he "work it out with Harm" Jansen, his co-director. Jansen was on vacation, but Andreu contacted staff and riders prior to the Tour de Nez and "everyone seemed good with it."

Andreu said he had operated under the assumption that the decision not to attend had been accepted by Tucker when he left for France at the end of June.

"One race out of the entire NRC calendar and that's the result," Andreu said. "I sure didn't expect it, especially after working as hard as I did putting this team together. I've just never heard of something like that. Even my own contract allows me to miss one event. The worst thing that could happen - according to the wording of my contract - is that I get a warning. I've put a lot of time and effort into this team and it's just disappointing to see this work out this way."

Asked if his firing had anything to do with a recent spate of publicity surrounding deposition testimony in Lance Armstrong's lawsuit against a Texas-based insurance firm, Andreu said he wasn't certain.

"I don't know," Andreu said. "That didn't come up, but it's been out there for a month now. I just don't know. You'll have to ask Sean."

Both Andreu and his wife Betsy had testified that they heard Armstrong confirm to doctors that he had used performance-enhancing substances prior to his 1996 cancer diagnosis.

Details of the deposition testimony became public in June when the French newspapers L'Equipe and LeMonde printed descriptions of the so-called "Indiana hospital incident." Armstong and others purportedly in the room at the same time have offered conflicting descriptions of the incident.

Andreu said his immediate goal is to "try and figure out what I'm going to do for the rest of the year."

"I had already turned down quite a few things - television, speaking engagement and race announcing - because of the commitments I had with the team," Andreu said. "I don't have any immediate plans right now, though."

Toyota-United spokesperson Martine Charles said the team would issue a statement later today regarding the reasons behind Andreu's dismissal.

 

[rooftest]

Uh... does anyone even follow domestic cycling?

 

[The Toninator]

we have cycle racing in the us?

 

[Heidi]

Hell yah I follow it! Toyota United was just in town for the Cascade Cycling Classic! This is really a shock. I can't believe this couldn't have been worked out some other way.

 

[Internal14]

Hell yah I follow it! Toyota United was just in town for the Cascade Cycling Classic! This is really a shock. I can't believe this couldn't have been worked out some other way.

Obviously there's more to the story than we're hearing. I'll do some snooping calls and see what's what in a few days.

 

[Heidi]

Maybe Lance bought the team!

 

[sanjuro]

I was wondering about why Andreu was announcing when he is also runs a team. Apparently I am not the only one...