Astana Qazaqstan Team is a professional road bicycle racing team sponsored by the Samruk-Kazyna, a coalition of state-owned companies from Kazakhstan and named after its capital city Astana. Astana attained UCI ProTeam status in its inaugural year, 2007. Following a major doping scandal involving Kazakh rider Alexander Vinokourov, team management was terminated and new management brought in for the 2008 season. The team was then managed by Johan Bruyneel, former team manager of U.S. Postal/Discovery Channel team. Under Bruyneel the ethical nature of the team did not improve, although Astana in this period was very successful.
Fumiyuki Beppu is a Japanese former professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam EF Education–Nippo. His older brother is the cyclist Takumi Beppu.
Andreas Klöden is a German former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1998 and 2013. His major achievements include a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games and finishing second in the general classification at the 2004 and 2006 Tour de France. Klöden was a tall, lightly built racer with enough strength to place high in the overall classifications of the Grand Tours, but his performances were affected by injuries.
Johan Bruyneel is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer and a former directeur sportif for UCI ProTour team RadioShack–Nissan, and U.S. Postal Service, a US-based UCI ProTour cycling team. On 25 October 2018, the World Anti Doping Agency imposed a lifetime ban on Bruyneel for his role in a doping scandal that also saw Lance Armstrong stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.
Yaroslav Popovych is a Ukrainian former professional cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2016.
Janez "Jani" Brajkovič is a racing cyclist from Metlika, Slovenia, who most recently rode for UCI Continental team Adria Mobil. He was the world under-23 Time Trial champion in 2004.
Taylor Carpenter-Phinney is an American retired professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2019 for the Trek–Livestrong, BMC Racing Team and EF Education First teams. Phinney specialized in time trials on the road as well as the individual pursuit on the track, winning the world title in the discipline in 2009 and 2010.
Jesse Sergent is a retired New Zealand racing cyclist who rode professionally between 2011 and 2016 for Team RadioShack, Trek Factory Racing and AG2R La Mondiale.
The Tour of the Gila is a cycling stage race for both men and women located in New Mexico, United States. It is sponsored by the component maker SRAM. The "Gila" began in 1987. Beginning in 2012, the men's Gila has been added to the UCI America Tour as a UCI classification 2.2 stage race, which permits UCI ProTeams to enter if they so choose; beginning in 2015, the women's Gila has also been added to the women's UCI international tour as a UCI classification 2.2 stage race.
The 2009 season for the Astana cycling team began in January with the Tour Down Under and ended in October with the Giro di Lombardia. As a UCI ProTour team, they were automatically invited to and obliged to attend every UCI ProTour event, and were invited to every event in the inaugural UCI World Calendar as well.
The 2008 season for the Astana cycling team began in January with the Tour Down Under and ended in October with the Giro di Lombardia. As a UCI ProTour team, they were automatically invited and obliged to attend every event in the UCI ProTour.
The 2010 season for Team RadioShack, its first, began in January with the Tour Down Under and ended in October at the Giro di Lombardia. Team RadioShack rode in 2010 a UCI ProTour team, and was thus automatically invited to and obligated to send a squad to every ProTour event.
The 2011 Tour de Suisse was the 75th running of the Tour de Suisse cycling stage race. It started on 11 June with an individual time trial in Lugano and ended with another individual time trial on 19 June, in Schaffhausen. It was the 16th race of the 2011 UCI World Tour season.
Lidl–Trek is a professional road bicycle racing team at UCI WorldTeam level licensed in the United States. Formerly RadioShack–Nissan, in 2014, Trek took over the ownership of the team and its ProTeam License.
The 2011 season for Team RadioShack began in January at the Tour Down Under and ended in October with Robbie McEwen's participation in the Noosa Grand Prix. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour.
The 2011 Amgen Tour of California was the sixth running of the Tour of California cycling stage race. It was held from May 15–22, and was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI America Tour. Originally scheduled for eight stages, the race was due to begin in South Lake Tahoe, but snow around the Lake Tahoe area led to stage 1 being delayed, shortened and ultimately cancelled. The race concluded in Thousand Oaks as planned.
The 2010 Tour of Utah was the seventh edition of the Tour of Utah. It was held August 17-22, 2010. The race was distinguished by the decision of the organizers prior to the race to submit the 2011 edition of the race for addition to the UCI America Tour, upgrading it from national status to international status. Although UCI Pro Tour team were not allowed to compete in the race, Levi Leipheimer of Team RadioShack, who had just won the Leadville Trail 100 MTB mountain-bike race in Colorado, raced as the sole member of a team sponsored by Lance Armstrong's Austin bicycle shop, Mellow Johnny's, and won the overall title. Consistent with its self-proclaimed title of "America's toughest stage race", only 71 of the original 140 starters finished the race.
The 2011 Tour of Utah was the eighth edition of the Tour of Utah. For the first time, the race was included on the UCI America Tour, with a classification of 2.1. As such, the race is only open to teams on the UCI Pro Tour, UCI Professional Continental and UCI Continental circuits. The race took place between August 9–14, 2011 as a six-day, six-stage race, similar to the prior two years. The race joined the 2011 Tour of California and the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge as the only three UCI-ranked stage races in the United States
The 2012 season for the RadioShack–Nissan cycling team began in January at the Tour Down Under. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour.
The 2012 Tour of Utah was the ninth edition of the Tour of Utah. Once again, the race was included on the UCI America Tour, with a UCI classification of 2.1. As such, the race is only open to teams on the UCI Pro Tour, UCI Professional Continental and UCI Continental circuits. The race took place between August 7–12, 2012 as a six-day, six-stage race, with some major differences to the prior editions, such as the elimination of the prologue and the inclusion of a team time trial instead of an individual time trial. The 2012 Tour of Utah was one of five UCI-ranked stage races in the United States in 2012 and one of three that attracted multiple ProTeams to compete.
