VeloNews posted the following article after my earlier post today on Rock Racing and the Tour de Georgia.

Michael Ball: Georgia’s promoters had one condition, “Don’t freak us out.”

Rock Racing team owner Michael Ball said Friday that his team earned an invite to the Tour de Georgia based on just one simple condition.

“They said, ‘can you conduct yourselves in a way that doesn’t freak us out?’ ” Ball said in a conference call with reporters.

He said that at Georgia he will not be accompanied by the Hollywood-style entourage that followed him at the Amgen Tour of California. He also said the team would not bring podium girl models to Georgia, although he said that’s because the models were unavailable, not because of his promise to avoid freaking anyone out.

Rock Racing had filed suit against the race when it was not invited, but dropped the suit this week when the race announced that the Saunier Duval team was not going to attend and that Rock Racing would fill the spot.

At the same time, Rock Racing was named as a Founding Sponsor of the race. Ball said his company’s sponsorship of the race was not a condition of its invitation.

“I know it could appear that way,” Ball said. “My intention is to support cycling. This is another great American tour and from the get go we have tried to get involved.”

Somehow, I doubt that my earlier post had anything to do with this comment, but I find it funny that other people were obviously thinking the same thing.

VeloNews | 2008 Tour de Georgia

Rock Racing gets in

Domestic team Rock Racing was not originally invited and had threatened take race organizer Medalist Sports to court over a disputed verbal invitation, but was given Saunier Duval’s team slot Tuesday. With that settlement, Rock has signed on as a founding sponsor of the Tour de Georgia — the event’s highest sponsorship level.

“My commitment to cycling is long-term and I am proud to support this world-class race which has featured such winners as Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis,” Rock team owner Michael Ball said. “As a tribute to the state of Georgia and to the rich tradition of this race, we plan something special for the final stage, so stay tuned.”

Hmm … sponsorship? Or bribery (on Rock Racing’s part) / extortion (on Medalist Sports’ part)? The timing of this sponsorship announcement is awfully suspect … making it seem as though the sponsorship is part of the agreement to let Rock race … a nice little quid pro quo.

The exchange of money does not make either the team OR the organizers look good.

From Velonews: Rock Racing sues to get into Tour de Georgia

Rock Racing is suing the Tour de Georgia’s owner and its organizing company, asking to be let into the race that starts April 21.

The team’s owner, Rock Racing LLC, filed a complaint April 8 asking for an injunction against the race’s owner — the Tour de Georgia Foundation, and its organizer, Medalist Sports, court records show.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for Tuesday in superior court in Fulton County, Georgia.

Rock Racing spokeswoman Martine Charles said the team had an “oral agreement” with Medalist Sports to participate in the race.

“It was revoked at the last minute. We’re pursuing legal alternatives,” she said.

Last month, Medalist’s Jim Birrell told VeloNews that Rock Racing was not invited to the race simply because there is not enough room for the team.

“There are a finite number of slots we’re interested in filling, and it’s hard, there are too many qualified teams to extend invites to, and not enough slots,” Birrell said.

Has a lawsuit ever helped anything in professional cycling, except draining the coffers of the team?

At least the Amgen Tour of California was honest about why it was excluding various members of the (Crack) Rock Racing team … doping allegations, and open investigations into Operación Puerto.

Medalist’s story seems unlikely, but convenient. Rock Racing is bad for cycling … even for the clean riders on the team (and I’m sure the vast majority are), the bad boy image doesn’t help. And the Escalades and podium girls just make it all about image; not about the sport.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, how soon the implosion for the Rock?