Domestic all-rounder Michael Creed has been let go by the Rock Racing team. Other racers may also have been fired.
- By Steve Frothingham
- Published Apr. 18, 2009
- Updated Apr. 19, 2009 at 6:50 PM UTC
Rock Racing has fired domestic all-rounder Michael Creed, citing poor performance so far this season, and further reducing its roster following Friday’s announcement of Tyler Hamilton’s retirement.
VeloNews has been unable to confirm that two other Rock riders were dismissed this week, as well.
Rock Racing spokesmen did not immediately return phone calls and emails seeking confirmation on Saturday.
Creed said he was not overly surprised to be let go. He has raced just once this season, at the Redlands Bicycle Classic, where he finished 67th on the GC. He said he was disappointed to learn of his firing first from a teammate. He said he later received an email from the team confirming that he had been fired.
“I was always the guy defending the team, to my friends and other racers, so it’s hard when you’ve been the one sticking up for the team, to be the one that gets flicked,” he told VeloNews on Saturday.
“I don’t want to put myself out as some kind of doe-eyed innocent … I can’t pretend I didn’t see how they treated other riders they let go last year,” he said. “I’m trying not to feel too sorry for myself, because you are only as good as the people you go into business with.”
Creed said he was not certain what he would do next. He has an offer to race the Joe Martin Stage Race with another team, but is also considering options outside of professional bike racing.
“I’m going to hang out at home, and see if I can get psyched to race again. Right now I have no interest in going out training in the cold,” he said from his home in Colorado Springs.
Steve Frothingham
VeloNews.com editor Steve Frothingham joined the gang in bike-crazy Boulder in early 2008. He is the former executive editor of the trade magazine Bicycle Retailer & Industry News. He also was a reporter and editor for The Associated Press, where he covered three presidential primaries in politics-crazy New Hampshire. His racing career began on a BMX track in 1980 and reached its zenith with several miserable road races as a category 2 in the early 90s. He subsequently retreated to cat. 3, where he has had a consistently mediocre (at best) record ever since, in road, mountain bike and cyclocross events. Follow him on Twitter at @steve_froth