Cervelo TestTeam Women first in UCI Team Ranking
23-Oct-2009: Cervélo TestTeam ended the season as the best team in the world. The women's team finished first in the UCI team ranking with 2321 points. Team Columbia High Road followed (1580) and DSB Bank (1528) placed third. In the 2009 season the Team achieved 43 UCI wins, including 5 World Cup races and the most important stage races on the calendar, the Grande Boucle, the Tour de l'Aude and the Giro d'Italia Femminile.
In terms of individual ranking the Team had three riders in the top ten: Kirsten Wild was second behind Marianne Vos (DSB Bank) and in front of Emma Johansson (Red Sun Cycling Team). Kirstin Armstrong finished fourth with Emma Pooley in ninth. Claudia Häusler in eleventh position and Christiane Soeder in nineteenth gave the team five riders in total, in the UCI ranked top 20.
Armstrong named USOC Athelete of the month
09-Oct-2009: Cervélo TestTeam's Kristin Armstrong has been voted the U.S. Olympic Committee’s top athlete of September over tennis player Melanie Oudin and track and field’s Sanya Richards.
Armstrong won the vote, cast by U.S. Olympic ‘family members’, with the final 10 percent decided by more than 1500 people voting on the committee’s Twitter site.
Armstrong, due to retire from riding at the end of this season, won the International Cycling Union Road World Time Trial Championship in September. Four days later she narrowly missed a podium place in the women’s road race at the Mendrisio, Switzerland event.
During her exceptional career Armstrong has claimed an Olympic gold medal and multiple UCI Time Trial World Championships. In addition she has a long list of domestic and international victories, as well as national road race and time trial championships.
Hammond 4th at Paris-Bourges
08-Oct-2009: Continuing his strong late season showing, Roger Hammond finished fourth today at the 193.5 km Paris-Bourges. André Greipel (Team Columbia), won the race with Juan José Haedo (Saxo Bank) taking second and Alexandre Usov (Cofidis) placing third.
Cervélo TestTeam was active throughout today's race. After 40 km Dominique Rollin was in a breakaway that stayed ahead for almost 120 km. The group had a maximum gap of 2 minutes but the peloton chased the group back with 11 km to go. In the finale the team prepared to set up the sprint for Martin Reimer. Roger Hammond tried to bring him into the right position but Martin lost Roger's wheel and so Roger ended up in the sprint on his own, finishing fourth. Martin Reimer ended in 8th position.
Results:
1st André Greipel 4:11:55 46.04 km/h
2nd Juan José Haedo s.t.
3rd Alexandre Usov s.t.
4th Roger Hammond s.t.
5th Sébastien Chavanel s.t.
Five top tens for Rotor in the Worlds
27-Sep-2009: Cervélo's Simon Gerrans (AUS) finished 10th today in the Men's Elite Road Race in Mendrisio, bringing the total to five Cervélo riders who finished in the top ten in their respective races at the 2009 Worlds Competition.
The other four Rotor riders are: 1st - Kristin Armstrong, TT Womens, 4th - Kristin Armstrong, Road Race Womens, 5th - Christiane Soeder, TT Womens, and 9th - Ignatus Konovalovas, TT Mens.
The title for today's 262.2km race went to Gerrans team mate Cadel Evans (AUS) who finished 27 seconds ahead of breakaway partners Alexandr Kolobnev (RUS) who finished second and Joaquím Rodríguez (SPA), in third.
"I felt good today but was not able to follow the best riders on the last climb," said Simon Gerrans. "My team mate Cadel Evans won the race."
Armstrong wins Women’s Individual Time Trial at World Championships
23-Sep-2009: Olympic Champion Kristin Armstrong (USA) today won the Women’s Individual Time Trial at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland.
It was her second time trial World Championship gold medal, Armstrong won her first gold medal in 2006 in Salzburg, Austria.
"It does not matter what year and how many times you are world champion, it is always the best feeling in the world," Armstrong said. "Today was an amazing day. The stars were aligned and of course I had a little bit of luck on my side. I could not have become World Champion today without riding the fastest equipment possible. The Cervélo P4 was my machine today. I was equipped with Zipp wheels, Vittoria tires, Shimano di2, fi'zi:k saddle, Rotor Rings, and a Catlike helmet - amazing equipment. Thank you to all of my sponsors - THANKYOU!"
It was also the second last race of Kristin's professional cycling career, (the women's road race on Saturday will be her last). She won with a time of 35:26, with a 55 second lead over her nearest rival Naomi Cantele (ITA).
Results:
1st Kristin Armstrong 0.35.26 45.38 km/h
2nd Noemi Cantele +0.55
3rd Linda Melanie Villumsen +0.58
4th Judith Arndt +1.24
5th Christiane Soeder +1.28
Burry Stander wins his first World Title
04-Sep-2009: Burry Stander from South Africa catapulted his Specialized S-Works Epic to his first World Title in Canberra, Australia in the men’s under 23 race.
Nerves were tight before the gun, with all eyes on Burry who was considered to be the favorite. Both his mum, Mandie and Dad, Charles were here to support Burry. Mandie recalled a five-year-old kid heading out on his bike into the neighboring sugar cane plantation trails and getting lost many times in his quest to be a cyclist. “He had an inbuilt determination from a young age and all those years had lead to this, today’s world championships,” said his nervous mum prior to the start.
Burry did not disappoint and rose to the occasion. In the early part of the race he was riding in second position with Thomas Litscher from Switzerland, but going into the second lap felt he had an advantage and made his move. “The bike was awesome. I had a great start and going up the early rocky part on Thomas’s wheel I realized The Epic was a real advantage and going into lap two, knew this was the place where I would make my move”. Burry made his move and consistently increased his margin lap after lap. Litscher was caught by Vuillermoz from France, who worked as a duo for one lap, but the Frenchman was stronger, riding solo for the silver medal.
On his victory, Burry said it was a long time coming, describing it as “probably the best day of my life”, with the rainbow stripes being the biggest title in the sport outside of the Olympic Games. “You can win ten races coming into this race, but at Worlds you can have a bad day and loose it all. This was my last shot at the under 23 title, so for everything to come right on the day was just perfect”!
Hushovd wins green jersey
Cervélo's durable sprinter Thor Hushovd didn't take any unnecessary risks in Sunday's thrilling finale on the Champs-Élysées and crossed the line sixth in the bunch sprint behind winner Mark Cavendish to secure the green points jersey.
That guaranteed him a trip to the most prestigious podium in cycling, winning his second points jersey since 2005.
"I started this morning with one aim, to keep the green jersey," Hushovd said. "I battled throughout the race to win this jersey. I didn't take any risks in the final sprint. There are a lot of things that can happen to that final rush to the line."
Hushovd wins the so-called sprinters jersey with 280 points, 10 more than arch-rival Cavendish.
Key to Hushovd's victory was his consistency in the sprints and his dramatic solo breakaway in the queen's stage across the Alps when he won 12 points at two intermediate sprints completely uncontested.
"I won this jersey because I'm more experienced. I know how to win it," Hushovd said. "I've done it before and I've fought for the jersey many, many years. Cavendish is the fastest sprinter, but I am the most consistent, and that's why I won the jersey."
Hushovd earned a spot on the final podium in Paris as one of four categories that are awarded jerseys during the Tour. The others are the yellow jersey for the GC, the white jersey for the best rider under 25 and the polka-dot jersey for the best climber.
"It's very emotional to stand on the podium and receive this jersey. I'm proud of what I've done," he said. "It was a hard battle to get more points than Cavendish, but that's what I've done in the end. His big goal is to win the green jersey and I know he's going to get many of them in the future, but I am going to give him a big fight in the next few years."
The podium spot for Hushovd culminated a highly successful Tour for Cervélo, racing in its first Tour in its first year as a team.
The squad won two stages (one with Hushovd and another with Heinrich Haussler into Colmar) and notched a handful of top-5s with Hushovd in the sprints and Hayden Roulston in a breakaway.
Defending champion Carlos Sastre rode with the honor of having the No. 1 start bib, but struggled to stay with the decisive attacks in the Alps in the final week of the Tour.
The proud Spanish climber simply ran out of gas to finish 17th at 26:21 back.
"I've realized a number of things. Perhaps the first and for me the most important is that I've come to the conclusion that one can't perform at a very high standard for so long. In my case, I haven't stopped since I won the Tour de France," Sastre said. "I've competed in four grand tours in less than a year: Tour, Vuelta, Giro and Tour, plus the Olympic Games, as well as an incredible number of events and acts, and that hasn't left me any time to rest. I think that's the reason for my tiredness and for the fact that at the moment I feel as if my body has nothing left to give. So the only thing I can think of right now is resting."
Rest is just what Sastre and seven other Cervélo teammates will get. José Angel Gomez Marchante is the lone Cervélo rider not to make it to Paris after being forced out following a high-speed crash in the Alps.
The Tour is over and it's time to relax, celebrate with family, friends and teammates and enjoy the success of a great Tour.
Cervélo TestTeam rides on Q-Rings oval chainrings, 3D cranks and Sabb bottom bracket.
Double Tour delight with Haussler victory,
Hushovd back in green.
Haussler snuck into a winning breakaway and then dropped everyone on the bumpy 200km 13th stage from Vittel to Colmar to claim his first career Tour stage victory more than four minutes clear of his pursuers.
Nicknamed the "Racing Kangaroo," the 25-year-old broke down in tears after crossing the line for Cervélo's second stage victory of the 2009 Tour.
"It's the Tour de France, it's the biggest race in the world. It means a lot to me. You could see on the finish line, the emotions were going crazy, it meant so much to me," Haussler said. "I really did try hard today, that's why I couldn't hold the tears back."
Haussler - who enjoyed a superb spring with second in Milan-San Remo and Tour of Flanders -- is unique in the Tour peloton, with dual German and Australian citizenship. Fluent in German, he was raised in Australia, but lives in nearby Frieburg, Germany, and knows the local roads.
"I only live 30km away (in Germany), so this is my training area. It was a stage that I looked at. At the beginning of the year, my form was really good and I was climbing really good, so I knew that I could win this stage or have a go at it," he explained. "Today we didn't want to miss the group, so I had a chance to go. It wasn't easy to get into the break, but today I had luck. The first attack went and straight up I was in the group. I know this area and it was really good to get the win here."
Cold, wind and rain made for a long and challenging stage. With a breakaway fighting for the spoils, the main GC contenders decided to save their legs for another day and the main pack crossed the line 6:43 behind the victorious Haussler.
Hushovd, meanwhile, was back on the podium Friday when he regained the green jersey after sprinting to sixth in the stage. The big Norwegian enjoyed an exceptional day climbing to get over the steep first-category Col du Platzerwasel with 61.5km to go.
Emma Pooley wins Montréal World Cup
Emma Pooley won today the 6th edition of the Montreal World Cup after she was able to make a solo breakaway from the first lap of the 10 km course stick. Emma Johansson (Swedish National Team) won the sprint for second place and Trixi Worrack (Equipe Nuernberger Versicherung) took third. Regina Bruins took fifth place and Carla Ryan placed ninth giving Cervélo TestTeam three riders in the top ten.
"We made the plan before race knowing that Emma Pooley was very strong after the Tour de l'Aude", said the Sport Director Manel Lacambra. "All the teams like Nürnberger Versicherung and Columbia - High Road were chasing here and the time gap was almost 4 minutes at one point, but they couldn't catch her and she finished 1 minute up on the field."
"I attacked after only 400 m", an elated and exhausted Emma Pooley said. "A win like this is only possible if you know that you have super strong team mates behind you. And our team did again an incredible job, with Regina and Carla in the group behind me. It gave me a lot of confidence.
"I believed in my victory only in the last corner with 200 m to go. I felt so tired during the last lap, so you never know. But I made it and I am so happy with this!"
Kirsten Wild wins stage 1 of Tour of Montréal
Kirsten Wild (Cervélo TestTeam) sprinted to victory ahead of American Lauren Tamayo (Team Tibco) and Martine Bras (Selle italia-Ghezzi). Wild completed the course in a time of 1 hour 58 minutes 42 seconds.
Ignatas Konovalovas wins Stage 21 of Giro
Ignatas Konovalovas won Stage 21 of Giro in an exciting finish to the centenary Giro which saw the maglia rosa leader Denis Menchov fall within the last kilometer on the rain slickened finish. Menchov was able to recover and finish to win this year's edition of the Giro d'Italia. Bradley Wiggins (Garmin - Slipstream) was 1 second behind Konovalovas and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Columbia - Highroad) came in third seven seconds off the pace set by Konovalovas. In the final General Classification, Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini) retained his second place and Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) held onto his third place podium position. Carlos Sastre finished in 4th place 1'47" down from Pellizotti.
"I had great motivation from the team and from Carlos", an elated Ignatas Konovalovas said, "Thomas Campana, who was in the car, was pushing me all the way. I am sure now I can say I couldn't do better."
"Fantastic!", Cervélo TestTeam sports director Jean-Paul Van Poppel said. "This is an exceptional team! I told the boys at the beginning of the Giro that maybe they don't realize that they think it is a normal situation but the more experienced riders know this is an exception. That there is something magic in this team. It is really beautiful.
"It was great to see young riders along with long time professionals perform so well on this team. It is a fantastic group and we work well as a team getting extremely good results from that team work. It makes us really successful.
"Not only the riders, also the staff, no exceptions. We have everything the best, the best material, the best staff on board, the best clothes.
"I have not enough words for it. It is really fantastic, four stage wins, fourth in the GC."
Cervélo TestTeam rides on Q-Rings oval chainrings, 3D crank (prototype) and Sabb bottom bracket.
Sastre wins second Giro stage on Mount Vesuvio
Carlos Sastre won his second Giro stage today beating Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) to move into 4th place on the GC. Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini) finished third ahead of maglia rosa holder Denis Menchov (Rabobank) who finished 4th. Sastre remains 61 seconds out of third place going into the last two stages of the centenary Giro d'Italia.
"These stages are really made for Carlos," remarked Serge Pauwels. "The short stage at Blockhaus was maybe too short, but, when the stages are longer like today with steady climbs, they are perfect for him.
"He showed he picked the right moment when the favorites were looking at each other and I was in a good position to slow down the chase group containing the favorites. So Carlos was able to immediately make a gap of thirty seconds. Then it was Astana's turn to try to ride in the front but Popovych blew and Navarro as well then it was over as Carlos rode off."
"It was the second victory for myself, the third for the team," Carlos Sastre said at the finish line. "The team support me and helped me to the end. Serge was close to me during the last hour of the race which worked nicely for us.
"We tried the maximum in this stage of the Giro d'Italia and I now sit fourth in the GC but it will be difficult to move up in the next couple of days. But I think we are happy, this is very good for our team because we did a fantastic job."
Carlos Sastre wins Giro stage 16 on new 3D crank
Carlos Sastre won Stage 16 with a brilliant solo attack on the last climb of the day attacking with 7 km to go and overtaking in the last 2 km Astana's Yaroslav Popovych. He was able to finish 25 seconds ahead of maglia rosa holder Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini) who was one second behind Menchov. Sastre now sits in third place in the GC 2'19" behind Menchov.
“The sixteenth stage of this year's Giro has been a very important day for me and the rest of the team. Thanks to the whole team’s hard work I was able to secure a very nice and very important stage victory.
I felt protected by my team mates throughout the day, who were close by at all times, giving me water when I needed it. Then, in the last part of the race, Serge Pauwels made a very important play that allowed me to see that some riders were struggling. That made me ride on stronger upon seeing a chance to get past the odd rider and earn important time against riders who were ahead of me in the general classification.
Tomorrow is the second rest day of this Giro, which will come in really well for many of us. This race won't finish until we reach Rome, there are two mountain finish stages left and anything could happen. I came to this Giro with the intention of really going for it and I'm here to continue doing so."
This win is also a great success for ROTOR and the new 3D crank, which has now racked up an impressive 2 stage wins just 1 week after its launch!!!! These results, along with the confirmation we're getting from the team members about the 3D's excellent weight to stifness ratio and perfect performance makes us confident we've got a real winner in our hands (not just Carlos... the cranks too!). The Giro is the fourth and last testing phase for the cranks before starting production: Obviously, all tests are going perfectly.
Cervélo TestTeam rides on Q-Rings oval chainrings, 3D prototype cranks and Sabb bottom bracket.
Cervélo TestTeam and ROTOR collaborate on new 3D Cranks - Product to debut at the Giro
Cervélo TestTeam riders will be using the new 3D Cranks from ROTOR Bike Components, when they start the 09 Giro d’Italia.
