HTC Highroad has folded after failing to find a sponsor. Bicycling carried the following an hour ago... In recent days, the muted buzz of rumors surrounding the HTC-Highroad team increased to a dull roar as all manner of claims – and news – pointed to an imminent announcement by the team as to its future. The announcement came today as owner and general manager Bob Stapleton regretfully said the team had failed to find a sponsor for 2012 and would, in the best interests of its riders and staff, free them to find other offers. Stapleton sounded wistful as he delivered the news to a small group of journalists, reflecting on his five-plus years heading the team and how it had accomplished – and fallen short of – its goals. “We exceeded athletically far beyond my wildest dreams,” he said of a team that should sometime this season record its 500th win. “We never won a grand tour but we won the green jersey and stages and were competitive. And basically everything other than that, we did win.” “The second ambition was to lead a restructuring of the sport to reach its ultimate potential. And that hasn’t worked so well. So on one hand I’m extremely proud of what we accomplished as a team. But I can’t help but be a little disappointed in our modest effect.” Highroad’s departure from the sport will have a huge effect. Its roster of riders is so coveted that Stapleton claimed a few rider agents complained to him privately that the prospect of all 27 riders hitting the market at once had “brought the transfer market to a halt.”
