MATT Goss needs no reminding that the HTC-Highroad express train that rolls out of Vendee tomorrow and includes green-jersey favourite Mark Cavendish is in danger of running off the rails after the Tour de France ends in Paris this month.
American owner Bob Stapleton is struggling to find a new naming rights sponsor after news the telco is opting to cut its $16 million annual cycling budget, and has told Goss, Mark Cavendish, and Mark Renshaw that unless a new sponsor is found before the Tour ends, the team will fold.
Cavendish has already been linked to a move to the News Corporation-backed Team Sky on a multi-million-dollar, multi-year deal.
In the best form of his career, Goss, 24, is off contract at the end of the season.
Renshaw, the team's lead-out man, is signed until the end of 2012, while Geelong's Leigh Howard, who didn't make the team's line-up for France, has blossomed under the coaching of sporting director Allan Peiper.
"We're all professional, we'll just go about our business in the hope Bob (Stapleton) finds a new backer," Goss told The Australian.
"Personally, I'm not trying to think too much about that, but it will be a shame if the team folds."
A start at the Tour de France had long been on the cards for the Launceston-born Goss after a strong summer before taking the Milan-San Remo classic in Italy.
"I was always hopeful of getting a start, but I wasn't sure until I got that final phone call," Goss said. "Now that the squad has been finalised, it will be be up to myself and Cav to do what we know best and that's to win stages and have a crack at the green jersey in the first week or 10 days of the race."
Race director Christian Prudhomme has made what many in the sport feel is a revolutionary change to how the points for the jersey are awarded this year.
As well as being able to take points at stage finishes, the bunch sprint specialists can also pick up bonuses at intermediate sprints along the road.
Meanwhile, Stuart O'Grady lines up for his 15th start in the Luxembourg-based Leopard-Trek team aiming to support Andy Schleck's shot at the yellow jersey.
American owner Bob Stapleton is struggling to find a new naming rights sponsor after news the telco is opting to cut its $16 million annual cycling budget, and has told Goss, Mark Cavendish, and Mark Renshaw that unless a new sponsor is found before the Tour ends, the team will fold.
Cavendish has already been linked to a move to the News Corporation-backed Team Sky on a multi-million-dollar, multi-year deal.
In the best form of his career, Goss, 24, is off contract at the end of the season.
Renshaw, the team's lead-out man, is signed until the end of 2012, while Geelong's Leigh Howard, who didn't make the team's line-up for France, has blossomed under the coaching of sporting director Allan Peiper.
"We're all professional, we'll just go about our business in the hope Bob (Stapleton) finds a new backer," Goss told The Australian.
"Personally, I'm not trying to think too much about that, but it will be a shame if the team folds."
"I was always hopeful of getting a start, but I wasn't sure until I got that final phone call," Goss said. "Now that the squad has been finalised, it will be be up to myself and Cav to do what we know best and that's to win stages and have a crack at the green jersey in the first week or 10 days of the race."
Race director Christian Prudhomme has made what many in the sport feel is a revolutionary change to how the points for the jersey are awarded this year.
As well as being able to take points at stage finishes, the bunch sprint specialists can also pick up bonuses at intermediate sprints along the road.
Meanwhile, Stuart O'Grady lines up for his 15th start in the Luxembourg-based Leopard-Trek team aiming to support Andy Schleck's shot at the yellow jersey.
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