Lopes dropped by GT? Im guessing he demanded more and they said no. He's in a pretty safe position though. World Champions rarely struggle to find teams.

Yeah he coulda asked for more and they said no, but this is what was posted on brianlopes.com by him.
Many of you have asked "Is it true?", regarding the rumors flying around about GT and Brian parting ways. In short "yes", it is true!
After seven years of a mutually successful partnership that produced:
Four World Championship titles
Three World Cup Overall titles
One National Championship
GT Bicycles has decided to take their legendary "race-inspired" brand in a "new direction".
Which leads me to question what the "new direction" is, since Brian has been supplying them "wins" from the get-go. It is clear to me that the only "direction" to go is down, specially after this year's World Championship win. With that said, I don't wish for that to happen, since we have been fortunate enough to meet some great people through GT, but I do whole-heartedly question the thinking and strategy behind it this "new direction" set forth by corporate.