Road: Discovery Channel’s Career Comes to a Close with ‘Race of the Falling Leaves’

On Saturday 20^th October in Northern Italy, 179 riders lined up for the final race on the ProTour calendar and with it, sadly the final race for the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team.

Possibly on one of the most beautiful routes in Italy; from Varese to Lake Como, the 101^st Giro de Lombardia, the ‘race of the falling leaves’ saw Vladamir Gusev and British rider Steve Cummings finish within the top 100 places, drawing the successful season and career of the Discovery Channel Team to a close.

With the disbanding of the team, many riders have now signed with other teams or are progressing on to different careers. The end of a victorious and exciting cycling era is unfortunately at an end – we wish all the team members the very best with their next career steps.

A look at DC's 39 wins in 2007:
Tour of California (3 wins): 2 stages and Levi Leipheimer GC triumph
Valencia (1): Alberto Contador stage win
Paris-Nice (4): 3 stages and Contador GC
Castilla Leon (2): 1 stage and Contador GC
DePanne (1): Stijn Devolder TT victory
Georgia (4): 3 stages and Brajkovic GC
Catalunya (1): Allan Davis stage win
Belgium (2): Vladimir Gusev TT and GC wins
Suisse (1): Gusev stage win
Russian Nationals (1): Gusev TT title
Belgian Nationals (1): Devolder RR title
Tour of Austria (3): Meersman stage, Devolder TT and GC
Tour of Qinghai Lake (6): Davis 5 stage wins; Chechu Rubiera stage
Tour de France (3): Contador stage; Leipheimer TT; Contador GC
Tour de l’Ain (1): Brian Vandborg stage win US Pro Championships (1): Leipheimer RR title
Tour of Missouri (2): George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer stage wins
Vuelta a Espana (1): Jason McCartney stage win

Courtesy of thepaceline.com