Team Bahati Re-organizes without Floyd Landis
Rahsaan Bahati’s young team was founded with one stated mission – to support inner-city youth. The Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling Team was founded and is managed and led by Rahsaan Bahati, an inner-city Los Angeles raised professional cyclist and cycling mentor. Bahati, 28, is a National Criterium Champion who rode with the Rock Racing team from 2007 to 2009, before he split with them to start his own team.
“Over the past year, I have learned some valuable lessons on how difficult it is to run a foundation and a business,” said Bahati. “I have never been involved in managing the team. However, by involving myself more in the day-to-day operations of both the race team and the foundation, I am confident that the mission of the Bahati Foundation will continue to be served.”
This week, the management of Team Bahati release the following announcement:
“The Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling Team will cease operations effective immediately. The decision was based on financial considerations. The Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling Team management and riders would like to thank the generous support of our sponsors.”
The announcement was bizarre, sudden and surprising, but the founder and manager himself was quick to clear up the misinformation on the future of his pro cycling team.
“Today's announcement – made by the company I employed to manage the Bahati Foundation pro cycling team – was not entirely accurate. The Bahati Foundation is alive and well, but the race team that supports it will be undergoing a re-organization," said Bahati.
Bahati is a co-founder and partner of the company, Raha Sports Management, which announced the disbanding of the team due to financial issues. He explained that all staff and riders would be remain with the team in its new format.
“There's a lot of mis-information flying around right now. It will take some time, but the facts of what has happened and what will be happening to the Bahati Foundation pro cycling team will emerge," said Bahati.
The Team’s 2010 budget suffered when Ouch Medical Center withdrew its sponsorship in May. This withdrawal was a reaction to the Floyd Landis controversy. Landis, a former Bahati rider, confessed to having been doping for most of his professional career, including his time riding on the US Postal Service team with Lance Armstrong, and accused many high-profile competitors, including Armstrong himself, of being involved in the same prolonged doping practices.
Dr. Brent Kay, of Ouch, ended his involvement with the team at the same time as Landis left, both within a week of the leak of Landis’ emails. Team Bahati was not and is not implicated in the accusations.
“The team has been, and will continue to be, competitive and race well,” said Bahati. “This team has been through some hard times, but it has persevered and will move forward in a much more sound and stable fashion. All the riders and staff who have been loyal to the team are moving forward with the new team.”
Landis’ allegations implicated riders in the US as well as in Australia, France and Belgium. Investigations have been underway in all four countries, but the implications are the most serious in the US. Futhermore, agent Jeff Novitzky of the Food and Drug Administration is conducting a federal investigation due to the implication of a Team funded by a government institution – the US Postal Service.
The controversial cyclist had been scheduled to compete with Team Bahati throughout the season, but had been forced to part ways with them. He is now competing in the BMC Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Oregon, but has been unable to find sponsorship. Though the Bahati Foundation cut the ties to Landis and did not support his position, they suffered from the withdrawal of Ouch and several other sponsors.
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