Cervélo partnership causes a shake-up in personnel
The Garmin-Transitions team apparently will not have Americans Steven Cozza and Danny Pate or Swede Frederick Kessiakof amongst its ranks for the 2011 season, according to several Dutch websites. The trio now could be on the hunt for jobs in a volatile transfer market.
Kessiakof said on his website earlier this month that he and the team had decided to end his season early. “I have been struggling all year to find good form. Despite not having raced a lot, I have still spent a lot of energy trying to get form over and over again,” he explained. “Together with the team we decided to end the season early, in order to get some extra recovery time before starting to work on the preparations towards 2011.” He will now be looking for a team following a tough season.
The incumbants were up against some fierce competition for positions on the team once it was announced that Garmin would be partnering with Cervélo. The announcement was made shortly after the demise of the TestTeam project.
The Cervélo situation has seen the American team acquire a formidable Classics squad to join forces with their existing stable of riders. The addition of captains Thor Hushovd and Heinrich Haussler along with Roger Hammond, Andreas Klier, Brett Lancaster, Dan Lloyd and Gabriel Rasch have led to some tough decisions by the team management, which saw it cut loose some homegrown talent in Cozza and Pate.