- Bob Stapleton
Bob Stapleton (born
April 1 ,1958 , inRiverside, California ) is an American entrepreneur and the team owner of cycling teamTeam Columbia [renamed with effect from the date of commencement of the2008 Tour de France , formerly known as "Team High Road" : cite press| title = Columbia Sportswear Announces Sponsorship | publisher = Team Columbia & High Road Sports, Inc | date = June 15 2008 | url = http://www.highroadsports.com/news/173-Columbia-Sportswear-Company-and-High-Road-Sports-Announce-New-Team-Columbia-to-Debut-at-2008-Tour-de-France
accessdate = 2008-06-17] . Stapleton was previously the team manager of Team High Road when it was known asT-Mobile Team . The transition to owner occurred on November 28, 2007 when German telecom companyDeutsche Telekom ended its sponsorship after numerous doping allegations surfaced throughout 2007. [cite web | title =Deutsche Telekom pulls sponsorship, but the team will continue | work =Cyclingnews.com | date = November 28 2007| url =http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/nov07/nov28news | accessdate = 2007-11-28]Stapleton began his relationship with
T-Mobile when his communications companyVoiceStream Wireless was bought in2000 by Deutsche Telekom for $50 billion. The original purchase price of Voicestream was $50B. At closing, DT stock had gone down and the value was less. VoiceStream was renamedT-Mobile USA . He later became involved with cycling by founding High Road Sports Inc., which managed T-Mobile Team (both men's and women's) until 2007.After the "
Operación Puerto " scandal touched big names of the men's team such asJan Ullrich andÓscar Sevilla , and following disputes among riders and managing staff, there were major changes in both the team's roster and management, and Stapleton was appointed team manager.References
Persondata
NAME= Stapleton, Bob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Entrepreneur and professional cycling team owner
DATE OF BIRTH=1958-04-01
PLACE OF BIRTH=Riverside, California ,United States
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
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