| Levi Leipheimer gave his first steps in cycling back in | | | | Noval, Janez Brajikovic from Slovenia, last Tour de |
| 1985 when he was 12-years-old as a competitive skier; | | | | France winner Spaniard Alberto Contador and |
| in 1987 he started to train for downhill ski racing; later | | | | Discovery's team previous manager Johan Bruyneel |
| on to become a professional cyclist in 1997. In 1998 | | | | who assisted Lance Arsmtrong to his seven |
| started as a road cyclist sponsored by Saturn and | | | | consecutive yellow jersey triumphs in the biggest |
| was able to win the U.S. National Time Trial | | | | cycling event of the world the Tour de France. |
| Championship in 1999, after this success he joined the | | | | Bruyneel is without a doubt is a strong leader with a |
| U.S. Postal Service cycling team. | | | | great background and this may be the main reason so |
| His first international experience was in the Vuelta a | | | | many members from the "old" team moved to Astana. |
| España in 2001 finishing in third place, he was | | | | Leipheimer admitted it is one of his main reasons as he |
| invited to join the Dutch team Rabobank as the leader | | | | stated "A lot of that has to do with Johan and the |
| and during his appearance in the Tour de France he | | | | staff and how comfortable I am with them," (...) "It's not |
| became 8th in the overall classification. This year he | | | | the exact same riders, but there will be the same |
| re-signed from the Discovery Channel team (old U.S. | | | | philosophy and understanding there." |
| Postal) and finished third in the last Tour de France. | | | | Astana road bicycle racing team sponsored by the |
| Due to the doping scandals in the cycling discipline the | | | | Astana group and owned by companies from |
| Discovery Channel team that was the main sponsor | | | | Kazakhstan has been involved in a lot of controversy |
| stop subsidizing them. The fact of finding a new | | | | due to many cases of doping from some of its |
| sponsor became very hard not to say impossible for | | | | members. It is probably the team will face skepticism |
| such a big team therefore it was decided to dissolve | | | | from the cycling authorities, the public and media. "I'm |
| the team by the end of this year... Due to the situation | | | | certainly not going to give up because of what's |
| all the members have had to find new teams. | | | | happened," Leipheimer said. "The sport is changing for |
| Several Discovery Channel team members have | | | | the better, going in the right direction, and I'm excited to |
| being recruited by Astana; among them the | | | | see that. |
| Portuguese Sergio Paulihno, the Spaniard Benjamin | | | | |