Rock Racing
[1] Rock Racing received media attention for hiring outcasts in the sport, including those tainted by performance-enhancing drug scandals.
[6] Directed by Frankie Andreu, with eleven riders with an average age of 28,[7] the team included Rahsaan Bahati, Mariano Friedick, Kayle Leogrande, David Clinger, and Jeremiah Wiscovitch, Rock Racing scored inaugural season victories at The CSC Invitational, The Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix, and Best Sprinter Competition at The Redlands Bicycle Classic.
Directed by Mariano Friedick, and comprising 21 riders with an average age of 29,[8] Rock Racing had to "come out of the gate swinging" being the center of a controversy before the 2008 Amgen Tour of California when newly signed racers, Santiago Botero, Tyler Hamilton and Óscar Sevilla were not allowed to start due to the race organizers' policy banning convicted abusers of performance-enhancing drugs.
[12] Also that month, an online poll by Bicycling Magazine showed that an overwhelming majority would be "rooting for" Rock Racing over other teams, some of which being the biggest in the sport.
[18] Tyler Hamilton won both the Tour of Qinghai Lake in July,[19] and the USPRO Road Race Championship in September.
[21] Bahati also won other major events such as Athens Twilight Criterium, Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix,[22] the Millikan Memorial Crit, as well as two stage wins during Wisconsin's Superweek on the way to becoming the second best sprinter in that series.
[24] For the amateur squad, Sterling Magnell had a breakout year, winning the Dana Point Criterium, Pro-Am 1/2 International Challenge during Downer's Grove weekend,[25] and two stages of Wisconsin's Superweek while on his way to finishing 2nd in the GC.
Australian track standout, Pete Dawson won the Sandy Springs Cycling Challenge which is included in the USAcrits Speedweek Series.
New riders for 2009 included Francisco Mancebo, José Enrique Gutiérrez, Glen Chadwick, Chris Baldwin, David Vitoria, Caleb Manion, and Iván Domínguez.
2003 Tour de France Points Classification Winner, Baden Cooke, also reported to have reached a verbal commitment, eventually signed with Vacansoleil of the Netherlands for 2009 during a period of uncertainty and scrutiny for Rock Racing.
[38] In June the team signed renowned Cuban sprinter, Iván Domínguez who had previously been with the UCI Pro Tour squad, Fuji–Servetto.
Bahati was controversially demoted to the amateur squad early in 2009 due to complications in the UCI language regarding roster size.
[44] David Vitoria scored back-to-back wins [45] in March's Vuelta Mexico Telmex on his way to his third place podium finish in the Final Overall GC.
[46] At June's Vuelta a Colombia, Víctor Hugo Peña and Glen Chadwick each won a stage, while Óscar Sevilla was on his way to taking home the Overall Points Classification for the event.
[49] In an unprecedented move, Rock Racing announced on 6/3/2008, the creation of the "Professional Cycling Catastrophic Injury Fund", a charitable entity to raise money for professional and elite amateur cyclists who suffer a catastrophic injury as a result of their participation in the competitive sport of cycling.
