Garmin-Cervélo: Eleven new riders include Dekker and Rasmussen

American ProTeam unveils strong lineup for next season

Launching its 2012 team in Boulder, Colorado, Team Garmin-Cervélo yesterday unveiled eleven new riders for the upcoming season, including Thomas Dekker and Alex Rasmussen.

Also coming on board are the talented Kiwi Jack Bauer (Endura), Koldo Fernandez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Robbie Hunter (RadioShack), Sebastien Rosseler (RadioShack) and Leopard Trek’s Fabian Wegmann, as well as the new pros Alex Howes, Jacob Rathe and Raymond Kreder (Chipotle Development Team) and Nathan Haas (Genesys Wealth Advisers).

They will join 19 riders from this year’s team, including the top American rider in the Tour de France, Tom Danielson, Tour stage winner Tyler Farrar, Paris-Roubaix winner Johan Vansummeren, Christian Vande Velde, Dave Zabriskie, David Millar, Heinrich Haussler and the team’s best-placed rider in the UCI WorldTour rankings, Dan Martin.

“We had our strongest season in the history of the team in 2011, and we’ll be looking to build on that success in 2012,” said Jonathan Vaughters, Slipstream Sports CEO, at the presentation. “Our roster has an outstanding mix of new and returning riders, with both veteran and young talent excelling in all disciplines of the sport. This will allow us to continue to do what we do best, win as a team.”

The signings of Dekker and Rasmussen may be debated by some fans of the team. Dekker has returned from a lengthy ban for EPO use and after a period of time racing with the Chipotle Development Team), has been given the step up to the ProTeam level by Vaughters. The Dutchman insists that he has reformed, and Vaughters wants to give him a second chance.

Rasmussen was fired by HTC Highroad in September after it emerged that he had three whereabouts violations in relation to out of competition testing. He was cleared by the Danish Sports Federation yesterday on the basis that the UCI didn’t follow its rules in terms of the timing of the notification to the rider. Rasmussen insists that a lack of organisation on his part was the reason for the whereabouts issues, and Vaughters has accepted this.

Robbie Hunter is returning to the team after spending a year with the RadioShack squad. He spoke in a recent video interview about looking forward to working with Tyler Farrar again, helping the top sprinter get into the best position possible at the end of races.

Next season will be a big year for the team in terms of the general classification; Danielson’s ninth place in the Tour de France marked a big breakthrough in performance and confidence for the American and he has the ability to step up another level again. Christian Vande Velde is now 35 but if he avoids injury, he has more big performances in him, while Dan Martin is progressing strongly and won his first Grand Tour stage in the Vuelta a España. He was also thirteenth overall there and, at 25 years of age, he has a big future ahead in three week races.

Martin told VeloNation recently that he believes a Classic win is possible, and so too a top three finish in a Grand Tour.

Stepping up, moving out:

As the team did with Martin over the past four seasons, it is also seeking to develop other young riders. Alex Howes, Raymond Kreder and Jacob Rathe are graduating from the Chipotle-Sugarlabs development team, while the promising Jack Bauer and Nathan Haas are also coming on board.

Of course, with many new riders coming on board, others must depart. The biggest name leaving is the 2010 world champion Thor Hushovd, who has signed a lucrative contract with the BMC Racing Team after one year with Garmin-Cervélo. Six are heading to GreenEdge Cycling, namely the Australians Jack Bobridge, Brett Lancaster, Cameron Meyer, Travis Meyer and Matthew Wilson, plus the Kiwi Julian Dean. A further three riders are leaving but their future plans are not known; they are the Britons Daniel Lloyd and Roger Hammond, plus the Norwegian Gabriel Rasch.

The women’s squad will again continue next season. Due to budget constraints the riders did not travel to Colorado; the lineup will be unveiled at a future point, as will the presentation of the Chipotle team for 2012.

Team Garmin-Cervélo Pro Men for 2012:

Allan Peiper