With the departure of Leif Hoste, Roger Hammond, Max van Heeswijk and Vjatcheslav Ekimov, American team Discovery Channel has lost some of its assets for a successful pre-Tour de France Classics season in 2007. "We are weakened for the Classics," admitted directeur sportif Dirk Demol to Dutch Wielrensite. Still, the team has retained George Hincapie, Vladimir Gusev and Stijn Devolder for the spring in Belgium and Northern France.
"With Hincapie, we have a deal that he will going after the Classics again this year," added Demol. "In 2006, Hincapie focused on the Tour, which didn't work out. He was disillusioned with his performance and put aside his Tour plans again."
