Cérvelo Pro Cycling Test Team - Women 2009

The women's Cérvelo Pro Cycling Test Team is next to Team Columbia-Highroad Women one of the best teams in the World. The team is a continuation of the former Cérvelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling team of manager Thomas Campana. The team captain remains Olympic Time Trial Champion Kristin Armstrong and she will be supported in her final season as a professional cyclist by strong riders as amongst others Emma Pooley, Carla Ryan and Kirsten Wild.

2008 was a really good season for the team with lots of victories from riders as Christiane Soeder, Kristin Armstrong, Karin Thürig and Priska Doppmann. The most important wins are amongst others the gold medal in the Time Trial at the Olympic Games, the final ranking of the Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale, the World Cup win in the Open de Suede Vargarda, the Novilon Cup Ronde van Drenthe, two stage wins in the Thüringen Rundfahrt and two national time trial titles.

Kristin Armstrong
Photo © 2009 Cervelo Test Team

Next to the women's team they also have a Pro Continental men's team with Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre and former Tour de France green jersey winner Thor Hushovd as team captains. The owners of the team are Gerard Vroomen and Phil White.

More on the Cérvelo Pro Cycling Test Team, click here

The team
The team for 2009 has changed quite a lot with six new signings and three departures. Priska Doppmann (retired), Karin Thürig (Bigla CT) and Emma Rickards (Team TIBCO) left the team but the team got quite some quality back with the arrival of Regina Bruins, Lieselot Decroix, Sandra Dietel, Claudia Häusler, Emma Pooley, Kirsten Wild and Elodie Touffet. Current Olympic Time Trial Champion Kristin Armstrong is still the team captain of this strong talented team.

The team started the 2009 season very well with the double at the Australian National Championships. Carla Ryan won both the time trial and the road race in a very impressive way.

Carla Ryan
Photo © 2009 Cervelo Test Team

The new signings
Regina Bruins, Lieselot Decroix, Sandra Dietel, Claudia Häusler, Emma Pooley, Kirsten Wild and Elodie Touffet are the new arrivals in the team as mentioned. A small introductory on these new signings:

Regina Bruins is a very talented Dutch rider coming from the Dutch Ton van Bemmelen sports. Bruins won the Holland Hills Classic in 2007 and is a very talented climber with a decent time trial. Last year she finished as 3rd in the Dutch National Championships, 10th in the Tour de L'Aude, 2nd in the Trofeo Costa Etrusca and 8th in the Fleche Wallonne.

Lieselot Decroix is the best Belgian rider for the moment. The 21 year old is coming from the Belgian Lotto-Belisol team and participated in both the Olympic Games and the World Championships in 2008. Last year she was 10th in the Fleche Wallonne and 7th at the European Championships (Road Race).

Christiane Soeder
Photo © 2009 Cervelo Test Team

Sandra Dietel is a 25 year old neo professional coming from Team Stuttgart. She is a very talented and ambitious climber. Last year she finished as fifth overall in the German Rad Bundesliga, was sixth in the German National Mountain Championships, resp. 7th (Road) and 8th (ITT) at the Student World Championships and 20th overall in the Gracia Orlova. Next to that she gained six victories in the German Bundesliga including two Bavarian Championships titles.

Claudia Häusler is another talented German climber. The 23 year old is coming from the German Nürnberger team. The strengths of Häusler are the stage races and races with longer climbs. In 2008 the former German Road Champion (2006) had a real breakthrough with a stage win and the third place overall in the Giro D'Italia. She was also 11th in the World Championships.

Emma Pooley is a 26 year old British rider coming from Team Specialized Designs for Women, which unfortunately stopped its sponsorship. Pooley had a very successful season with the World Cup win in the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, stage wins in the Tour de Bretagne, Tour de L'Ardeche and the Thüringen Rundfahrt and on top of that the silver medal behind Kristin Armstrong in the Time Trial at the Olympic Games in Beijing. As you can see she is a very talented all-rounder.

Emma Pooley
Photo © 2009 Bart Hazen

Kirsten Wild is one of the best Dutch cyclist. The 26 year old is coming from the Dutch AA Drink Cycling Team. Kirsten Wild is a strong sprinter and a classic specialist. In 2008 Wild won the Omloop het Volk and stages in the Holland Ladies Tour and the Tour de Pologne. Next to that she was third in the Tour of Flanders and winner of the Dutch Top Competition series.

last but not least we will introduce France's Elodie Touffet. The 28 year old is coming from the Italian Gauzz-RDZ team. She is a very experienced rider and won a stage in the Trophee D'Or Feminin in 2005. In 2007 she was second in the World Cup Ronde van Drenthe. Last year her best results were fourth in the National Road Championships and fifth in the Grand Prix de France.

The goals
The goals of the team, which will start as a German team in 2009, are very clear and that is to become the number one team in women's cycling.

Regina Bruins
Photo © 2009 Bart Hazen

The 2009 roster
Kristin Armstrong (USA)
Regina Bruins (Ned)
Lieselot Decroix (Bel)
Sandra Dietel (Ger)
Sarah Düster (Ger)
Claudia Häusler (Ger)
Emma Pooley (Gbr)
Carla Ryan (Aus)
Pascale Schnider (Swi)
Patricia Schwager (Swi)
Christiane Soeder (Aut)
Elodie Touffet (Fra)
Kirsten Wild (Ned)

Kirsten Wild
Photo © 2009 Bart Hazen

New: Regina Bruins (Team Ton van Bemmelen - Odysis), Lieselot Decroix (Lotto-Belisol), Sandra Dietel (Team Stuttgart), Claudia Häusler (Equipe Nürnberger), Emma Pooley (Team Specialized), Elodie Touffet (Gauss RDZ) and Kirsten Wild (AA Drink)

Out: Priska Doppmann (Retires), Emma Rickards (Team TIBCO) and Karin Thürig (Bigla Cycling Team)

Current CQ Ranking (10/01/2009

Click on photos for a larger image:

Patricia Schwager (L) - Pascale Schnider (R)
Photo © 2008 Bart Hazen

Most Important (UCI) Victories 2008
National Championships Austria - ITT: Christiane Soeder
Chrono Champenois: Karin Thürig
Tour Cycliste Feminin International - Stage 2 (ITT): Christiane Soeder
Memorial Davide Fardelli (ITT): Karin Thürig
Olympic Games - Beijing (ITT): Kristin Armstrong
CDM Open de Suede Vargarda (TTT): Cervélo Lifeforce Pro CT
Internationale Thüringen Rundfahrt - Stage 5: Karin Thürig
Internationale Thüringen Rundfahrt - Stage 2: Priska Doppmann
Tour de Feminin - Krasna Lipa - Stage 5: Priska Doppmann
National Championships Switzerland (ITT): Karin Thürig
Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale - Final: Christiane Soeder
Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale - Stage 6: Christiane Soeder
Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale - Stage 4 (ITT): Karin Thürig
Grand Prix de Suisse/Souvenir Magali Pache: Christiane Soeder
Novilon Eurocup Ronde van Drenthe : Kristin Armstrong
GP Costa Etrusca: Giro Comuni Montescudaio: Kristin Armstrong
Tour of New Zealand - Final ranking: Kristin Armstrong
Tour of New Zealand - Stage 5 (ITT): Kristin Armstrong
Tour of New Zealand - Stage 3: Kristin Armstrong
Geelong Tour - Final Ranking: Christiane Soeder
Geelong Tour - Stage 1 (ITT): Christiane Soeder

Claudia Häusler
Photo © 2009 Cervelo Test Team

All (UCI) victories and podium places, click here

Links to riders websites:
Kirsten Wild: http://www.kirstenwild.nl
Christiane Soeder: http://www.christiane-soeder.at
Patricia Schwager: http://www.patriciaschwager.com
Pascale Schnider: http://www.pascaleschnider.ch
Claudia Häusler: http://www.claudia-haeusler.de
Sandra Dietel: http://www.cyclingsandra.blogspot.com
Lieselot Decroix: http://www.lieselotdecroix.tk
Kristin Armstrong: http://www.kristinarmstrongusa.com
Sarah Duester: http://www.sarahduester.de

Teams website: http://www.cervelo.com/

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More team photos, click here

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