The team gained international prominence after signing Laurent Jalabert before 2001, following his many years with the Spanish ONCE team of Manolo Saiz. Jalabert said that, "I wanted to retire with a French team, but nobody gave me a good offer, so I went with CSC instead". At the time, CSC was sponsored by the French bike manufacturer Look, which is associated with Jalabert. The team also signed American Tyler Hamilton, formerly of U.S. Postal. The 2001 season was a breakthrough with Jalabert's win of the King of the Mountains competition and a stage on Bastille Day at the Tour de France. The season ended with Jalabert winning the 2001 Clásica de San Sebastián.