US-based ProTeam Garmin-Cervelo announced its full men's and women's team rosters on Monday and released full details of its 2011 team clothing.
Both the Garmin-Cervelo men's and women's teams boast a host of strong riders and a wealth of British talent including Roger Hammond, Daniel Lloyd, David Millar, Emma Pooley, Lizzie Armitstead, Sharon Laws and Lucy Martin.
The men's line-up is an amalgamation of the 2010 Garmin-Transitions and Cervelo teams, and presents a strong team for classics and Grand Tours alike. Thor Hushovd has said that he will concentrate on this year's spring classics and support sprinter Tyler Farrar in a bid for the Tour de France green jersey against the likes of Mark Cavendish (HTC) rather than contest it himself.
"My biggest goal is to get one major Classics victory in 2011," Hushovd said back in August. "I've come close over the past few years so I will build on that experience and hopefully, stand on the podium with my new team."
The team's grand tour aspirations will be met by 2010 Tour de France revelation Ryder Hesjedal and Christian Vande Velde. The Canadian former mountain biker finished seventh overall after a consistent performance throughout the whole race - his reward was an extended contract with the team through to the end of 2013.
Vande Velde will undoubtedly be hoping to put behind the crashes and injury of the previous two years to realise his potential after finishing fourth overall in the 2008 Tour de France.
The squad also continues its traditional strength in events against the clock, with Scot David Millar enjoying arguably his best season yet in 2010 taking Commonwealth time trial gold and silver behind Fabian Cancellara in the World Championship.
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The men's team will make its first outing at the UCI WorldTour season opener at the Tour Down Under later in January where Farrar will come up against sprint rivals Cavendish and Andre Greipel (Omega Pharma).
Cycling Weekly's top British rider of 2010, Emma Pooley, is part of the 10-rider Garmin-Cervelo women's team largely inherited from Cervelo. World time trial champion Pooley and Armitstead racked up an enviable list of wins during last season, and the team as a whole is recognised as the squad to beat in any event it takes part in.
The Cervelo team disbanded at the end of the 2010 season after failing to find a lead sponsor to fund the squad. Subsequently, Cervelo replaced Felt as bike supplier to the Garmin team and several of the riders signed up to the new team.
"We're incredibly excited about 2011," said team CEO Jonathan Vaughters. "Our men's roster is our strongest yet and we have what we think could be the strongest women's team in the world."
"For the men, we have one of the strongest lead out trains in the peloton along with one of the strongest Classics line-ups. The women's squad brings a wealth of experience and honours and we are incredibly excited to see what they do on the road this year.
"We have the opportunity and the objective to become the number one ranked team - men and women - by the year's end, and to do it with the same ethical code we started out with. Whatever happens, we'll give our fans and our sponsors many reasons to cheer in 2011."
Garmin-Cervelo 2011: Men's team
Jack Bobridge (AUS)
Tom Danielson (USA)
Julian Dean (NZ)
Tyler Farrar (USA)
Murilo Fischer (BRA)
Roger Hammond (GB)
Heinrich Hausler (AUS)
Ryder Hesjedal (CAN)
Thor Hushovd (NOR)
Andreas Klier (GER)
Michel Kreder (NED)
Brett Lancaster (AUS)
Christophe Le Mével (FRA)
Daniel Lloyd (GB)
Martijn Maaskant (NED)
Dan Martin (IRL)
Cameron Meyer (AUS)
Travis Meyer (AUS)
David Millar (GB)
Ramunas Navardauskas (LT)
Tom Peterson (USA)
Gabriel Rasch (NOR)
Peter Stetina (USA)
Andrew Talansky (USA)
Christian Vande Velde (USA)
Sep Vanmarcke (BEL)
Johan Van Summeren (BEL)
Matt Wilson (AUS)
David Zabriskie (USA)
Garmin-Cervelo 2011: Women's team
Lizzie Armitstead (GB)
Noemi Cantele (ITA)
Jessie Daams (BEL)
Sharon Laws (GB)
Lucy Martin (GB)
Emma Pooley (GB)
Alex Rhodes (AUS)
Carla Ryan (AUS)
Trine Schmidt (DK)
Iris Slappendel (NED)
What happened to the Argyle Army?
Garmin-Cervelo released a sneak picture of its new team jersey in November, and has now released full details of the full clothing range.
The distinctive Argyle-inspired design elements of the previous orange, blue and white Garmin kit has been reduced to a small patch on the blue cuffs and collar, with Cervelo's black and white taking up most of the colourscheme.
With both the previous Garmin and Cervelo team strips being two of the most popular replica team clothing among race fans, the new strip was hotly awaited. However, many fans have expressed disappointment with the new design saying that it is overly similar to the current Team Sky strip. Both squads now have black-based clothing with blue and white highlights, and you have to wonder how distinct the teams will look when mixed up in the peloton.
Perhaps Garmin-Cervelo will take on Cervelo's summer tactic and reverse out the black and white elements for the Tour de France.
New Garmin-Cervelo team strip
November's 'sneak peek' at the jersey design
Look familiar? Team Sky's black, white and blue jersey design
Related links
Garmin-Cervelo team reveals 2011 kit
Hammond and Lloyd join Garmin-Cervelo for 2011
Hushovd confirmed for Garmin-Cervelo in 2011
Team Garmin confirms Cervelo deal
Cervelo confirms end of cycling team
Garmin-Cervelo emerges for 2011; Lloyd likely with USA team
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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