Team CSC
Encyclopedia
Team Saxo Bank-SunGard is a professional cycling team
Cycling team
A cycling team is a group of cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle races whether recreational or professional - and the supporting personnel...

 from Denmark. It competes in the UCI ProTour
UCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...

. The team is owned and managed by former Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

 winner Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Lykkegård Riis , nicknamed The Eagle from Herning , is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer who placed first in the 1996 Tour de France, and is now the team owner and manager of Danish UCI ProTour outfit Team Saxo Bank Sungard...

, under the management of his company Riis Cycling. The sponsor is a Danish investment bank
Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is an online Danish investment bank. It was founded as a brokerage firm in 1992, under the name Midas Fondsmæglerselskab, by Lars Seier Christensen, Kim Fournais and Marc Hauschildt. The name was changed to Saxo when the company obtained a banking license in 2001. Saxo offers trading...

.

Founded for 1998 Team home – Jack & Jones, the team started in cycling's second division. In 2000 it moved into the 'top division, now known as the UCI ProTour, previously as the 1st Division. Since 2000, under differing sponsor names (Memory Card-Jack & Jones and CSC-Tiscali), the team rode the Tour de France. It has won stages in all three Grand Tours and won overall in two of them. In the 2008 Tour de France
2008 Tour de France
The 2008 Tour de France was the 95th Tour de France. The event took place from 5–27 July 2008. Starting in the French city of Brest, the tour entered Italy on the 15th stage and returned to France during the 16th, heading for Paris, its regular final destination, which was reached in the 21st stage...

, Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...

 won the general classification, Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...

 won the young rider classification
Young rider classification in the Tour de France
-History:From 1968 to 1975, there was a white jersey awarded in the Tour de France to the lead rider in the combination classification . In 1975, this classification was removed, and replaced by the Best Young Rider Classification...

, and the team won the overall team classification
Team classification
The team classification is a prize given in the Tour de France to the best team in the race. It has been awarded since 1930, and the calculation has changed throughout the years.-Calculation:...

, and Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who is currently racing with UCI ProTeam . Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, is among the best mountain riders in the professional field in the 21st century, and is considered one of the strongest stage race riders...

 won the 2006 Giro d'Italia
2006 Giro d'Italia
The 2006 Giro d'Italia was the 89th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It was held from 6 May to 28 May 2006, and covered , beginning in the Belgian mining town of Seraing and ending in Milan...

, as well as finishing third and second in the 2004
2004 Tour de France
The 2004 Tour de France was the 91st, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 2004. It consisted of 20 stages over 3391 km.Lance Armstrong became the first to win six Tours de France. Armstrong had been favored to win, his competitors seen as being German Jan Ullrich, Spaniards Roberto Heras and...

 and 2005 Tour de France
2005 Tour de France
The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd Tour de France, taking place from July 2 to July 24, 2005. It comprised 21 stages over 3592.5 km, the winner's average speed was 41.654 km/h. The first stages were held in the département of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was...

. In addition, the team has won many major classics, including 6 Monuments.

The team won the UCI ProTour
UCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...

's team classification each year from 2005 through 2007, and the team classification in the 2010 UCI World Ranking
2010 UCI World Ranking
The 2010 UCI World Ranking was the second edition of the ranking system launched by the International Cycling Union in 2009. The series started with the Tour Down Under's opening stage on 19 January, and consisted of 13 stage races and 13 one-day races, culminating in the Giro di Lombardia on 16...

. Since 2011, the team added SunGard as secondary sponsor, and is known as Team Saxo Bank-SunGard. On 16 November 2011 it was announced that SunGard will no longer be a title sponsor after 2011.

Philosophy

When Bjarne Riis took over in winter 2000, he hired the former Danish Ranger Corps
Jægerkorpset
The Jaeger Corps is the special forces unit of the Royal Danish Army stationed at Aalborg Air Base.-Insignia and status :Jægerkorpset wears the maroon beret with a brass emblem depicting a hunter's bugle on a black felt liner. The beret is issued after completion of an 16 week selection...

 soldier B.S. Christiansen
B.S. Christiansen
Bjarne Slot Christiansen is a former professional soldier from the Danish special force army unit Jægerkorpset, who is currently working with coaching and team building. His many television appearances and a popular book called Et liv på kanten have made him a celebrity in his home country.B.S...

 as advisor and they gave CSC a distinct philosophy and training methods. The team works with four values; communication, loyalty, commitment and respect, with the aim of improving teamwork. The team rides for the rider in the best shape on the day, and separates the function of team captain (the rider making decisions) and team leader (the rider trying to win) to avoid pressure on a single rider.

The team staff go on yearly outdoor education
Outdoor education
Outdoor education usually refers to organized learning that takes place in the outdoors. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or journey-based experiences in which students participate in a variety of adventurous challenges in the form of outdoor activities such as hiking,...

 trips, physical challenges under pressure. According to B.S. Christiansen, the camps teach people "that they can achieve their goals by cooperating. They have to perform their very best under the worst possible circumstances, where every action has a consequence",. Bobby Julich
Bobby Julich
Robert Julich, most commonly referred to as Bobby Julich, is an American former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for Team CSC in the UCI ProTour racing series. He got his international breakthrough when he finished 3rd overall in the 1998 Tour de France race, but has since ridden...

, one of the riders, said that "those days in the bush bonded us much closer and given [sic] us the strategies to work as a team in any racing situation".

History

The company behind the team, initially named Professional Cycling Denmark, was created in autumn 1996 by former amateur cycling world champion Alex Pedersen, Finn Poulsen (representing Bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...

), Torben Kølbæk and Johannes Poulsen (from Herning CK
Herning CK
Herning Cykle Klub is an amateur road bicycle racing club, located in Herning, Denmark, and founded April 11, 1937 on initiative by E.V.Johansen, with Poul Schmidt as chairman....

), and Bjarne Riis (then a Team Telekom rider). The team was built on the team license of Danish amateur team Herning CK, with headquarters in Herning
Herning
Herning Municipality is a municipality in Region Midtjylland on the Jutland peninsula in western Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 1,336 km² and a total population of 84,208...

, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, with the goal of being picked for the 2000 Tour de France
2000 Tour de France
The 2000 Tour de France was the 87th Tour de France, and took place from July 1 to July 23, 2000. It was won by American cyclist Lance Armstrong. The Tour started with an individual time trial in Futuroscope and ended traditionally in Paris. The distance travelled was 3662.5 km...

.

1998–1999 Team home-Jack & Jones

The team was assembled for 1998 with Alex Pedersen and Torben Kølbæk as sports directors. The team started with 11 riders, a mix of first-time professionals with Danish veterans Brian Holm
Brian Holm
Brian Holm Sørensen is a retired Danish professional rider in road bicycle racing from 1986 to 1998, and rode for Team Telekom from 1993 to 1997, and was part of the team that brought his fellow Dane Bjarne Riis to victory in the 1996 Tour de France...

 and Jesper Skibby
Jesper Skibby
Jesper Skibby was born 21 March 1964 in Silkeborg, Denmark. He was a professional rider in road bicycle racing, and one of the most popular in Denmark, not only because of his talent, but also because of his wit and his constant banter...

 who had competed in the Tour de France several times, Skibby having won stage 5 in 1993
1993 Tour de France
The 1993 Tour de France was the 80th Tour de France, taking place July 3 to July 25, 1993. It consisted of 20 stages, over 3714.3 km, ridden at an average speed of 38.709 km/h....

. The main sponsors were a Danish real estate agency (home a/s
Home a/s
home a/s is a Danish chain of real estate agencies, wholly owned by Danske Bank, the largest bank in Denmark. The chain was established 1 January 1990, and as of 2005 has approximately a quarter of the Danish real estate market....

), and a clothes manufacturer (Jack & Jones, a brand owned by Bestseller) and the budget was around
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

1,000,000 for 1998, including secondary sponsors. The team rode its first season in 2nd Division races, and during the first month both Christian Andersen
Christian Andersen
Christian Andersen is a Danish former football player and now manager. He was most recently the manager of Boldklubben Frem...

 and Jesper Skibby had minor wins. Holm quit the team in April 1998.

The doping
Doping (sport)
The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...

 scandal in the 1998 Tour de France
1998 Tour de France
The 1998 Tour de France, also called the Tour du Dopage , was marred by doping scandals throughout known as the Festina affair, starting with the arrest of Willy Voet, a soigneur in the French Festina team. Voet was traveling into France when he was arrested and found with large quantities of...

 didn't affect the team directly, but Riis, who was part of the peloton in the Tour de France, was branded a doping cheat in the Danish media in early 1999. He sold his stock in Professional Cycling Denmark.

The team finished 32nd best of 1998, and with an increased budget of €2,400,000 combined, the number of riders was increased to 14, with riders of a higher standard. In terms of races won, 1999 was the most successful season until 2005: with 26 UCI
Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....

 victories the team was promoted to the 1st Division. In September 1999 Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 rider Marc Streel was tested with a hematocrit
Hematocrit
The hematocrit or packed cell volume or erythrocyte volume fraction is the percentage of the concentration of red blood cells in blood. It is normally about 45% for men and 40% for women...

 level of 53.4, a value above 50 being an indicator of EPO
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...

 doping, and he was fired Home stopped sponsoring the team from the end of the season, citing doping.

2000 Team Memory Card-Jack & Jones

For 2000 , Memory Card A/S, a Danish producer of memory card
Memory card
A memory card or flash card is an electronic flash memory data storage device used for storing digital information. They are commonly used in many electronic devices, including digital cameras, mobile phones, laptop computers, MP3 players, and video game consoles...

s, stepped in as co-sponsor and Danish cyclist Bo Hamburger
Bo Hamburger
Bo Hamburger is a former Danish professional road racing cyclist. He retired in 2006.He was fired from Team CSC in 2001, after a positive EPO test. He was later cleared legally since the B test was below the limit, but still higher than normal. Since then, the Danish Cycle Union refused to let Bo...

 was brought in as captain. The 2000 season did not have as many wins as in 1999 but the calibre was higher and the team took part in the 2000 Tour de France
2000 Tour de France
The 2000 Tour de France was the 87th Tour de France, and took place from July 1 to July 23, 2000. It was won by American cyclist Lance Armstrong. The Tour started with an individual time trial in Futuroscope and ended traditionally in Paris. The distance travelled was 3662.5 km...

.

In April 2000 Nicolai Bo Larsen was tested with a 51 hematocrit level, but wasn't fired, as he had been tested with a 47 level the day before. The morning after his result of 51, he again tested 47%. However, the apparent double standards harmed its image in Denmark and Jack & Jones did not prolong sponsorship, despite Bo Larsen's later being acquitted of doping by a medical report.

In the fall of 2000, Riis took over Professional Cycling Denmark and the team. After 2000 the contract with Jack & Jones expired, and Riis did not want to continue working with Memory Card due to their financial difficulties.

2001–2002 CSC-Tiscali

CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation is an American information technology and business services company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, USA...

) and the European Internet provider World Online took over as sponsors in a combined sponsorship of €4,500,000. World Online was bought by the Italian telecom giant Tiscali
Tiscali
Tiscali may refer to:*Tiscali, an archaeological village of Nuragici people, in Sardinia, Italy, notable because it was completely inside a huge cavern*Tiscali SpA, a telecom company based in Italy*Tiscali TV , multiple uses...

 and the team changed on July 1, 2001 to CSC-Tiscali.

In April 2001, Bo Hamburger tested positive with a newly developed method which distinguished natural EPO from synthetic EPO used in doping by determining the percentage of basic
Base (chemistry)
For the term in genetics, see base A base in chemistry is a substance that can accept hydrogen ions or more generally, donate electron pairs. A soluble base is referred to as an alkali if it contains and releases hydroxide ions quantitatively...

 EPO. The first test showed 82.3 which was above the maximum of 80 imposed by the UCI, but as his secondary tests showed both 82.4 and 78.6 he was cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sport. Its headquarters are in Lausanne and its courts are located in New York, Sydney and Lausanne, Switzerland...

 (CAS) in 2002. Bo Hamburger was released from his contract with CSC-Tiscali in September 2001.

The team gained international prominence after signing Laurent Jalabert
Laurent Jalabert
Laurent Jalabert is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as "Jaja" , he won many one-day and stage races and was ranked number 1 in the 1990s...

 before 2001, following his many years with the Spanish ONCE team of Manolo Saiz
Manolo Saiz
Manuel "Manolo" Saiz Balbás is the former team manager of one of the most successful Spanish professional road bicycle racing teams, first called Team ONCE, then Liberty Seguros-Würth, Astana-Würth, and lastly Astana Team.Saiz was a hands-on manager and directeur sportif...

. Jalabert said that, "I wanted to retire with a French team, but nobody gave me a good offer, so I went with CSC instead". At the time, CSC was sponsored by the French bike manufacturer Look, which is associated with Jalabert. The team also signed American Tyler Hamilton
Tyler Hamilton
Tyler Hamilton is a former American professional road bicycle racer and former Olympic gold medalist. Hamilton became a professional cyclist in 1995, and during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Tour de France was a teammate of Lance Armstrong who won those races.Hamilton appeared at the 2000 Summer...

, formerly of U.S. Postal
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team was a United States-based professional road bicycle racing team. It was the continuation of the 2004 U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner, was its leader until July 2005...

. The 2001 season was a breakthrough with Jalabert's win of the King of the Mountains
King of the Mountains
The King of the Mountains is the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race; usually and officially known as the Mountains classification...

 competition and a stage on Bastille Day
Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July of each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale and commonly le quatorze juillet...

 at the Tour de France. The season ended with Jalabert winning the 2001 Clásica de San Sebastián
Clásica de San Sebastián
The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa - Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián is a cycle race that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián, Spain...

.

In 2002 Hamilton came second in the Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

 despite a broken scapula
Scapula
In anatomy, the scapula , omo, or shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus with the clavicle ....

. The team also nearly won the team time trial
Team time trial
A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...

 at the 2002 Tour de France
2002 Tour de France
The 2002 Tour de France started in Luxembourg on July 6, 2002, and ended in Paris on July 28. France was visited counter-clockwise, so the Pyrenees were there before the Alps...

, thwarted by a flat tire. Jalabert again won the King of the Mountains and repeated his victory at the Clásica de San Sebastián. He retired at the end of the season.

2003–2008 Team CSC

In 2003, Riis changed Professional Cycling Denmark to Riis Cycling. Tiscali ceased sponsorship, and Riis Cycling was unable to find a new co-sponsor, hence the team changed CSC-Tiscali to Team CSC and continued 2003 on a reduced budget. The headquarters moved from Herning to the headquarters of one of the sponsors, the Danish insurance company Alm. Brand in Lyngby, a Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

 suburb.

Hamilton stepped up to be the team leader in 2003, with the goal of winning the Tour de France. He won Liège–Bastogne–Liège and was in form when he broke his collarbone in a pile-up on stage 1 of the Tour. He lost a lot of time. He made it up by winning a stage and finishing fourth, while his teammates Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...

 and Jakob Piil
Jakob Piil
Jakob Storm Piil is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer, where he later lived many years in Odense. He is an all-round rider, known for his aggressive style of riding, whose speciality is to pick the right breakaways. He is the cousin of Danish former professional bicycle racer Jørgen V...

 also won stages.

In 2004 Hamilton switched to the Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 team, Phonak
Phonak (cycling team)
Phonak was a Swiss professional cycling team from 2000 until 2006. The team was one of 20 teams in the first UCI ProTour in 2005...

, citing lack of support from Riis. The team brought on Ivan Basso from Fassa Bortolo to join Carlos Sastre in competing for Grand Tour wins. Basso had been a former winner of the maillot blanc
Maillot blanc
Numerous cycling stage races award a white jersey to signify the current leader and overall winner of a certain competition. The most prominent of these is perhaps the Tour de France, where the jersey is known as the maillot blanc and is awarded to the best-placed rider under 26 years of age...

 in 2002. In the 2004 Tour de France
2004 Tour de France
The 2004 Tour de France was the 91st, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 2004. It consisted of 20 stages over 3391 km.Lance Armstrong became the first to win six Tours de France. Armstrong had been favored to win, his competitors seen as being German Jan Ullrich, Spaniards Roberto Heras and...

, Team CSC had a very successful Tour, with Basso winning a mountain stage and reaching the podium in Paris with his third place finish. Bjarn Riis and Team CSCs efforts in the 2004 Tour were made into the cycling movie Overcoming.
Following an off-season marred by financial difficulties that resulted in wage cuts for a number of riders, the 2005 spring season was the strongest yet for CSC, with wins by Julich and Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . Voigt is known for his propensity to attack, and for his positive racing attitude. He is capable of repeated attacking, holding a high tempo, and breaking away from the peloton...

. Julich's victory in Paris–Nice made him the first rider to wear the leader's jersey in the new UCI ProTour. This was followed by three team stage wins in the Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

, one by David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie is a professional road bicycle racer from the United States who rides for . His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stage wins in all three Grand Tour stage races and winning the US National Time Trial Championship six times...

 and two by Basso, though the overall victory escaped from Basso when he was beset by a stomach ailment.

Midway through the 2005 Tour de France, CSC extended sponsorship until 2008 at a higher level, enabling Riis to renew the contract with Basso for an additional three years. Basso got second place in the tour and
Zabriskie won in the prologue. Julich won the Eneco Tour of Benelux
Eneco Tour of Benelux
The Eneco Tour of Benelux is a road bicycle racing stage-race. Its name refers to its main sponsor, the energy company Eneco Energie. It is part of both the UCI ProTour and the UCI World Ranking calendar.-History:...

 and Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...

 came second. Nicki Sørensen
Nicki Sørensen
Nicki Sørensen is a Danish professional road bicycle racer currently riding for . He has competed in five consecutive editions of the Tour de France from 2001 to 2005, riding as an all-round rider who rides well in hilly terrain, Sørensen is a valued support for the team captain without many wins...

 won a stage of the Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...

. Team CSC won the 2005 ProTour, with Julich as the #8 ranked individual rider of the year, the highest placed rider in the team.

Until 2009, the team used Cervélo
Cervélo
Cervélo Cycles is a Canadian manufacturer of racing bicycle frames. Cervélo uses CAD, computational fluid dynamics, and wind tunnel testing at a variety of facilities including the San Diego Air and Space Technology Center, in California, USA, to aid its designs. Frame materials include carbon...

 bikes and Shimano
Shimano
Shimano, Inc. is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of cycling components, fishing tackle, and rowing equipment.In 2005, the company had net sales of US $1.4 billion. Bicycle components provided 75% of its sales income...

 components. The arrangement with the small Canadian manufacturer worked well for CSC, as Cervélo's strength is time-trials, at which CSC has specialists.

Because of the team's link to drug use (Riis admitted doping, and Basso was suspended until 2008), MAN Trucks dropped co-sponsorship midway through 2007.

2006 season

In 2006, with sponsorship for several years, the focus was to win all three Grand Tours, with Ivan Basso riding both Giro d'Italia
2006 Giro d'Italia
The 2006 Giro d'Italia was the 89th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It was held from 6 May to 28 May 2006, and covered , beginning in the Belgian mining town of Seraing and ending in Milan...

 and the Tour de France
2006 Tour de France
The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis....

, and Carlos Sastre the Vuelta a España. They had come second in the 2005 in the Tour and Vuelta, respectively. The team had several time trialists, including Zabriskie, who had won time trials at the Giro and the Tour, Julich, as well as Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...

. Others included Jens Voigt and Stuart O'Grady
Stuart O'Grady
Stuart O'Grady OAM , nicknamed Stuey, is an Australian professional road bicycle racer on UCI ProTeam , who started as a track cyclist. He and Graeme Brown won a gold medal in Men's Madison at the 2004 Summer Olympics...

 from Australia, the only sprinter name in the team.

The first victory of the 2006 UCI ProTour
2006 UCI ProTour
The 2006 UCI ProTour was the second year of the UCI ProTour system, in which the ProTour teams are guaranteed, and obliged to, participate in the series of ProTour races....

 season was in the prologue of Paris–Nice by Julich. The spring was plagued with injuries hitting a third of the team, most notably O'Grady. Cancellara won the time trial at Tirreno–Adriatico and then Paris–Roubaix. Fränk Schleck
Fränk Schleck
Fränk René Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . At the start of 2005, Schleck was joined by his younger brother Andy on , and they split the 2005 national championships between them, with Fränk winning the road race and Andy winning the time trial...

 won the Amstel Gold Race
Amstel Gold Race
The Amstel Gold Race is a road bicycle race held in the southern part of the province of Limburg, Netherlands. Since 1989 it has been among the races included in season long rankings tables, as part of the UCI Road World Cup , the UCI ProTour , UCI World Ranking and from 2011 the UCI World Tour...

 a week later.

Team CSC surprised by announcing that Sastre would ride the Giro as helper for Basso, that he would ride all three Grand Tours. 2005's winner Paolo Savoldelli
Paolo Savoldelli
Paolo Savoldelli is an Italian former road racing cyclist and winner of the 2002 and 2005 Giro d'Italia....

 was strongest in the first stages, and Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to take five second places and a fourth in 2004 and third in 2005. He is considered one of the best time-trialists in the history of the sport...

 took a surprise win in the time trial ahead of Basso, but Basso dominated with three wins on mountain finishes and in the team time trial. Basso won by 9'18.

On 30 June 2006, the Tour de France announced that Basso would not ride the 2006 Tour after apparent involvement in the Operación Puerto
Operación Puerto doping case
Operación Puerto is the code name of a Spanish Police operation against the doping network of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, started in May 2006, which resulted in a scandal that involved several of the world most famous cyclists at the time.Media attention has focused on the small number of...

 doping scandal. Sastre took over as captain and was the strongest in the favorite group on the last mountain stages, but a poor last time trial placed him fourth overall. The team scored two stage wins, the most impressive Fränk Schleck's win on Alpe d'Huez
Alpe d'Huez
L'Alpe d'Huez is a ski resort at . It is a mountain pasture in the Central French Alps, in the commune of Huez, in the Isère département in the Rhône-Alpes region.-Tour de France:L'Alpe d'Huez is one of the main mountains in the Tour de France...

. Voigt had already won a flat stage after a long break.

The autumn was dominated by the Basso's involvement in Operación Puerto. His contract was cancelled by mutual consent, and the case against Basso was eventually dropped by the Federazione Ciclistica Italiana for lack of evidence, but without him authorizing a DNA test that could have cleared him conclusively. Basso adamantly denied being involved. (On May 7, 2007 Basso admitted involvement in Puerto). Team CSC have since started an ambitious anti-doping program together with the Danish anti-doping expert Rasmus Damsgaard. Meanwhile, on the road, Voigt dominated the Deutschland Tour, winning overall and three stages, including a mountain finish and a time trial. Sastre came fourth in the Vuelta after starting in the lead when CSC won the initial team time trial. It was Sastre's fifth Grand Tour
Grand Tour (cycling)
In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour refers to one of the three major European professional cycling stage races:* Tour de France – Tour of France , held in July* Giro d'Italia – Tour of Italy , held in May...

 in a row.

2007 season

New rider Juan José Haedo
Juan José Haedo
Juan José Haedo is an Argentine professional road racing cyclist and former track cyclist on . He is the brother of Lucas Sebastian Haedo...

 gave the team a good start by winning early minor races. The classics season was a success by having O'Grady win Paris–Roubaix. Voigt managed to defend his victory in Tour of Germany. CSC won the UCI ProTour team competition for the third year in a row.

Sastre had a team dedicated to him for the Vuelta, while the team for the Tour was support riders and riders who could make individual results. This left the Giro without a clear rider for the general classification. Instead a youthful team was chosen, with the hope that Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...

 might win the youth competition. He won the youth competition and came second overall .

For the Tour
2007 Tour de France
The 2007 Tour de France, the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 July to 29 July 2007. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain...

, Cancellara followed up a strong showing in the Tour de Suisse
Tour de Suisse
The Tour de Suisse is a UCI World Tour stage race held annually in June. The race debuted in 1933 and has evolved in timing, duration and sponsorship. With the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is a proving ground for the Tour de France, and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

 with two stage wins and seven days in the yellow jersey. But doping returned when the race hit the mountains. Alexander Vinokourov
Alexander Vinokourov
Alexander Nikolaevich Vinokourov, also written Alexandre Vinokourov, is an ethnically Russian Kazakhstani professional road bicycle racer who currently competes with the UCI ProTeam Astana...

 tested positive and leader Michael Rasmussen
Michael Rasmussen
Michael Rasmussen is a Danish professional road bicycle racer who rides for the Danish team Christina Watches-Onfone. In the 2007 Tour de France, Rasmussen, while in the yellow jersey, had his contract terminated by his team and was removed from the Tour...

 was withdrawn by his team for "internal code violations". Sastre finished fourth.

For the Vuelta, Sastre again lost time in time trials, especially the first, but climbed to second place.

2008 Team CSC Saxo Bank

CSC announced that they would not renew the contract in spring 2008, meaning Riis Cycling A/S would need a new main sponsor from 2009. Mid-june, Riis Cycling A/S announced that Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is an online Danish investment bank. It was founded as a brokerage firm in 1992, under the name Midas Fondsmæglerselskab, by Lars Seier Christensen, Kim Fournais and Marc Hauschildt. The name was changed to Saxo when the company obtained a banking license in 2001. Saxo offers trading...

 had entered a three year contract as name sponsor, with immediate effect, so the team entered the 2008 Tour de France
2008 Tour de France
The 2008 Tour de France was the 95th Tour de France. The event took place from 5–27 July 2008. Starting in the French city of Brest, the tour entered Italy on the 15th stage and returned to France during the 16th, heading for Paris, its regular final destination, which was reached in the 21st stage...

 as Team CSC Saxo Bank. Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...

, having taken a lead of about two minutes on the final climb of L'Alpe D'Huez, won the Tour, and the team took the team classification.

2009 Team Saxo Bank

It was announced September 28, 2008 that for 2009, IT Factory would be co-sponsor. However, the company went into receivership
Receivership
In law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...

 some two months thereafter. The team also began riding Specialized
Specialized Bicycle Components
Specialized Bicycle Components, more commonly known simply as Specialized, is a major American brand of bicycles and related products. It was founded in 1974 by Mike Sinyard and is based in Morgan Hill, California-History:...

 bicycles for the 2009 season.

Team Saxo Bank-SunGard

Although Saxo Bank had previously announced that 2010 would be the last year they would sponsor the team, the 2011 name for the team was announced in August 2010 as Team Saxo Bank-SunGard, and the signing of triple-Tour de France-winner Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the team. With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, the 2009 Tour de France, the 2010 Tour de France and won 2011 Giro...

 on a two-year contract was also revealed. On July 29, 2010, Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...

 and his brother Fränk
Fränk Schleck
Fränk René Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . At the start of 2005, Schleck was joined by his younger brother Andy on , and they split the 2005 national championships between them, with Fränk winning the road race and Andy winning the time trial...

 announced their departure from the team effective from the start of the 2011 season.

Team roster

As at 24 February 2011.

Sports Directors

Name Born Nationality Previous Enter
Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Lykkegård Riis , nicknamed The Eagle from Herning , is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer who placed first in the 1996 Tour de France, and is now the team owner and manager of Danish UCI ProTour outfit Team Saxo Bank Sungard...

1964 Rider for Team Telekom 2000
Dan Frost
Dan Frost
Dan Frost is a retired male track cyclist from Denmark, who won the gold medal for his native country in the men's points race at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. His other major victories include the world title in the same event in 1986 . He is the brother of cyclist Ken...

1961 Track racing
Track cycling
Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using track bicycles....

2006
Bradley McGee
Bradley McGee
Bradley John McGee OAM is an Australian former professional racing cyclist. He is currently a directeur sportif for UCI ProTeam Team Saxo Bank and the personal coach of young Australian rider Richie Porte. He started cycling in 1986 at the age of ten...

1976 Rider for Team CSC Saxo Bank 2006
Jørgen V. Pedersen
Jørgen V. Pedersen
Jørgen V. Pedersen is a retired Danish road bicycle racer, and as of 2007 sports director at Team CSC....

1959 Key Account Manager for Team CSC 2007
Torsten Schmidt 1972 Rider for Team Wiesenhof-Felt 2007

Notable wins

Since the founding of Team CSC in 1998, its various riders have won more than 200 victories for the team. Here are listed the most meriting wins, consisting of Grand Tour stages, Classics
Classic cycle races
The classic cycle races are one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. Most of the events, all run in western Europe, have been fixtures on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th Century. They are normally held at roughly the same...

 wins, and overall wins in the UCI ProTour and UCI World Ranking racing series.
Date Race Country Winner
22 March 2000 Dwars door Vlaanderen
Dwars door Vlaanderen
Dwars door Vlaanderen is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race. Traditionally, it is the start of the Flemish cycling week, with Gent–Wevelgem , the Three Days of De Panne and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Dwars door Vlaanderen has always been contested on a Wednesday, a week and a half before the...

 
Tristan Hoffman
Tristan Hoffman
Tristan Henri Christiaan Hoffman is a former road racing cyclist from the Netherlands. Since early 2007 he is a directeur sportif for .-Major results:199119921993...

11 July 2001 Stage 4, 2001 Tour de France
2001 Tour de France
The 2001 Tour de France was particularly difficult, having contained a 67-km long team time trial, two individual time trials and five mountain-top finishes on consecutive days, the second of which being the Chamrousse special category climb time trial. Thus, all the high-mountain stages were...

 
Laurent Jalabert
Laurent Jalabert
Laurent Jalabert is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as "Jaja" , he won many one-day and stage races and was ranked number 1 in the 1990s...

14 July 2001 Stage 7, 2001 Tour de France Laurent Jalabert
11 August 2001 Clásica de San Sebastián
Clásica de San Sebastián
The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa - Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián is a cycle race that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián, Spain...

 
Laurent Jalabert
26 May 2002 Stage 14, Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

 
Tyler Hamilton
Tyler Hamilton
Tyler Hamilton is a former American professional road bicycle racer and former Olympic gold medalist. Hamilton became a professional cyclist in 1995, and during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Tour de France was a teammate of Lance Armstrong who won those races.Hamilton appeared at the 2000 Summer...

10 August 2002 Clásica de San Sebastián Laurent Jalabert
6 October 2002 Paris–Tours  Jakob Piil
Jakob Piil
Jakob Storm Piil is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer, where he later lived many years in Odense. He is an all-round rider, known for his aggressive style of riding, whose speciality is to pick the right breakaways. He is the cousin of Danish former professional bicycle racer Jørgen V...

27 April 2003 Liège–Bastogne–Liège  Tyler Hamilton
4 May 2003 Tour de Romandie
Tour de Romandie
The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs in the Romandie region, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling....

 
Tyler Hamilton
15 July 2003 Stage 10, 2003 Tour de France
2003 Tour de France
The 2003 Tour de France started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,427.5 km , proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages...

 
Jakob Piil
19 July 2003 Stage 13, 2003 Tour de France Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...

23 July 2003 Stage 16, 2003 Tour de France Tyler Hamilton
14 March 2004 Paris–Nice  Jörg Jaksche
Jörg Jaksche
Jörg Jaksche is a German road bicycle racer.He has been cycling professionally since 1997, racing for the teams Polti , Team Telekom , ONCE , CSC , Liberty Seguros-Würth/Astana and Tinkoff Credit Systems in 2007.In 2004, he won the Tour Mediterranean and the Paris–Nice race.In the 2005 Tour de...

16 July 2004 Stage 12, 2004 Tour de France
2004 Tour de France
The 2004 Tour de France was the 91st, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 2004. It consisted of 20 stages over 3391 km.Lance Armstrong became the first to win six Tours de France. Armstrong had been favored to win, his competitors seen as being German Jan Ullrich, Spaniards Roberto Heras and...

 
Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who is currently racing with UCI ProTeam . Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, is among the best mountain riders in the professional field in the 21st century, and is considered one of the strongest stage race riders...

13 March 2005 2005 Paris–Nice  Bobby Julich
Bobby Julich
Robert Julich, most commonly referred to as Bobby Julich, is an American former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for Team CSC in the UCI ProTour racing series. He got his international breakthrough when he finished 3rd overall in the 1998 Tour de France race, but has since ridden...

15 May 2005 Stage 8, 2005 Giro d'Italia
2005 Giro d'Italia
The 2005 Giro d'Italia, the 88th running of the race, was held from 7 May to 29 May 2005, consisting of 21 stages for a total of 3,417 km, ridden at an average speed of 37,375 km/h...

 
David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie is a professional road bicycle racer from the United States who rides for . His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stage wins in all three Grand Tour stage races and winning the US National Time Trial Championship six times...

26 May 2005 Stage 17, 2005 Giro d'Italia Ivan Basso
27 May 2005 Stage 18, 2005 Giro d'Italia Ivan Basso
2 July 2005 Stage 1, 2005 Tour de France
2005 Tour de France
The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd Tour de France, taking place from July 2 to July 24, 2005. It comprised 21 stages over 3592.5 km, the winner's average speed was 41.654 km/h. The first stages were held in the département of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was...

 
David Zabriskie
10 August 2005 2005 Eneco Tour of Benelux 

Bobby Julich
15 September 2005 Stage 18, 2005 Vuelta a España Nicki Sørensen
Nicki Sørensen
Nicki Sørensen is a Danish professional road bicycle racer currently riding for . He has competed in five consecutive editions of the Tour de France from 2001 to 2005, riding as an all-round rider who rides well in hilly terrain, Sørensen is a valued support for the team captain without many wins...

9 April 2006 Paris–Roubaix Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...

16 April 2006 Amstel Gold Race Fränk Schleck
Fränk Schleck
Fränk René Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . At the start of 2005, Schleck was joined by his younger brother Andy on , and they split the 2005 national championships between them, with Fränk winning the road race and Andy winning the time trial...

11 May 2006 Stage 5 (TTT
Team time trial
A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...

), 2006 Giro d'Italia
2006 Giro d'Italia
The 2006 Giro d'Italia was the 89th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It was held from 6 May to 28 May 2006, and covered , beginning in the Belgian mining town of Seraing and ending in Milan...

 
Team CSC
14 May 2006 Stage 8, 2006 Giro d'Italia Ivan Basso
23 May 2006 Stage 16, 2006 Giro d'Italia Ivan Basso
27 May 2006 Stage 20, 2006 Giro d'Italia Ivan Basso
28 May 2006 Overall, 2006 Giro d'Italia Ivan Basso
18 June 2006 2006 Eindhoven Team Time Trial Team CSC
15 July 2006 Stage 13, 2006 Tour de France
2006 Tour de France
The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis....

 
Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . Voigt is known for his propensity to attack, and for his positive racing attitude. He is capable of repeated attacking, holding a high tempo, and breaking away from the peloton...

18 July 2006 Stage 15, 2006 Tour de France Fränk Schleck
9 August 2006 2006 Deutschland Tour  Jens Voigt
26 August 2006 Stage 1 (TTT
Team time trial
A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...

), 2006 Vuelta a España 
Team CSC
15 April 2007 Paris–Roubaix Stuart O'Grady
Stuart O'Grady
Stuart O'Grady OAM , nicknamed Stuey, is an Australian professional road bicycle racer on UCI ProTeam , who started as a track cyclist. He and Graeme Brown won a gold medal in Men's Madison at the 2004 Summer Olympics...

20 May 2007 Stage 8, 2007 Giro d'Italia
2007 Giro d'Italia
The 2007 Giro d'Italia was the 90th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place from 12 May to 3 June 2007. The race began in Sardinia and finished in Milan, and featured five mountain top finishes, of which one was an individual time trial...

Kurt Asle Arvesen
Kurt Asle Arvesen
Kurt Asle Arvesen is a former Norwegian professional road bicycle racer for . Arvesen is from Eresfjord, Nesset. From 2012 he will be manager of ....

24 June 2007 2007 Eindhoven Team Time Trial
2007 Eindhoven Team Time Trial
The third edition of the Eindhoven Team Time Trial took place on June 24, 2007. It featured a team time trial in and around the Dutch city of Eindhoven...

Team CSC
7 July 2007 Prologue, 2007 Tour de France
2007 Tour de France
The 2007 Tour de France, the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 July to 29 July 2007. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain...

Fabian Cancellara
10 July 2007 Stage 3, 2007 Tour de France
2007 Tour de France
The 2007 Tour de France, the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 July to 29 July 2007. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain...

Fabian Cancellara
18 August 2007 2007 Deutschland Tour
2007 Deutschland Tour
The 31st edition of the Deutschland Tour cycle race took place in Germany from August 10 to August 18, 2007. It did not start with the traditional prologue but with a normal stage. The race included a team time trial, an individual time trial and seven stages, covering a total of . The race began...

 
Jens Voigt
18 March 2008 2008 Tirreno–Adriatico  Fabian Cancellara
22 March 2008 Milan–San Remo  Fabian Cancellara
29 March 2008 E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
The E3 Harelbeke is an annual cycling race in the Flanders area of Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke over 210 kilometres. The event is organised by the Hand in Hand Cycling Club of Harelbeke and is ranked 1.HC on the UCI Continental calendar....

 
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
16 July 2008 Stage 11, 2008 Tour de France
2008 Tour de France
The 2008 Tour de France was the 95th Tour de France. The event took place from 5–27 July 2008. Starting in the French city of Brest, the tour entered Italy on the 15th stage and returned to France during the 16th, heading for Paris, its regular final destination, which was reached in the 21st stage...

 
Kurt Asle Arvesen
23 July 2008 Stage 17, 2008 Tour de France
2008 Tour de France
The 2008 Tour de France was the 95th Tour de France. The event took place from 5–27 July 2008. Starting in the French city of Brest, the tour entered Italy on the 15th stage and returned to France during the 16th, heading for Paris, its regular final destination, which was reached in the 21st stage...

 
Carlos Sastre
27 July 2008 Overall, 2008 Tour de France
2008 Tour de France
The 2008 Tour de France was the 95th Tour de France. The event took place from 5–27 July 2008. Starting in the French city of Brest, the tour entered Italy on the 15th stage and returned to France during the 16th, heading for Paris, its regular final destination, which was reached in the 21st stage...

 
Carlos Sastre
21 September 2008 2008 Tour de Pologne  Jens Voigt
21 September 2008 Stage 21, 2008 Vuelta a España
2008 Vuelta a España
The 2008 Vuelta a España was the 63rd edition of the Vuelta a España, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The event took place from 30 August to 21 September 2008 over 21 stages covering . The first stage was a team time trial in Granada. The event finished in Madrid 23 days later...

 
Matti Breschel
Matti Breschel
Matti Breschel is a Danish professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI ProTeam .-Career:He got his breakthrough with small Danish Team PH, finishing 6th at the U/23 Cycling World Championship in Verona in 2004 where he helped fellow Dane Mads Christensen finish 3rd...

26 April 2009 Liège–Bastogne–Liège  Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...

21 June 2009 2009 Tour de Suisse
2009 Tour de Suisse
The 2009 Tour de Suisse was the 73rd edition of the Tour de Suisse stage race. It took place from 13 June to 21 June and is part of both the 2009 UCI ProTour and the inaugural World Calendar. It began with a short individual time trial in Liechtenstein and ended with another time trial, in Bern...

 
Fabian Cancellara
4 July 2009 Stage 1, 2009 Tour de France
2009 Tour de France
The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco...

 
Fabian Cancellara
16 July 2009 Stage 12, 2009 Tour de France
2009 Tour de France
The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco...

 
Nicki Sorensen
22 July 2009 Stage 17, 2009 Tour de France
2009 Tour de France
The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco...

 
Fränk Schleck
Fränk Schleck
Fränk René Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . At the start of 2005, Schleck was joined by his younger brother Andy on , and they split the 2005 national championships between them, with Fränk winning the road race and Andy winning the time trial...

29 August 2009 Stage 1, 2009 Vuelta a España
2009 Vuelta a España
The 2009 Vuelta a España was the 64th Vuelta a España. The event took place from 29 August to 20 September 2009. For only the second time in the race's history, it began away from Spanish soil, with the race not in fact reaching Spain until Stage 5....

 
Fabian Cancellara
5 September 2009 Stage 7, 2009 Vuelta a España
2009 Vuelta a España
The 2009 Vuelta a España was the 64th Vuelta a España. The event took place from 29 August to 20 September 2009. For only the second time in the race's history, it began away from Spanish soil, with the race not in fact reaching Spain until Stage 5....

 
Fabian Cancellara
24 March 2010 Dwars door Vlaanderen
Dwars door Vlaanderen
Dwars door Vlaanderen is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race. Traditionally, it is the start of the Flemish cycling week, with Gent–Wevelgem , the Three Days of De Panne and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Dwars door Vlaanderen has always been contested on a Wednesday, a week and a half before the...

 
Matti Breschel
27 March 2010 E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
The E3 Harelbeke is an annual cycling race in the Flanders area of Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke over 210 kilometres. The event is organised by the Hand in Hand Cycling Club of Harelbeke and is ranked 1.HC on the UCI Continental calendar....

 
Fabian Cancellara
4 April 2010 Ronde van Vlaanderen
2010 Tour of Flanders
The 2010 Tour of Flanders cycle race was the 94th edition of this monument classic and took place on 4 April. The course was 262.3 km long, starting in Brugge and finishing in Ninove. The race was won by Fabian Cancellara ahead of Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert.-Course:The 16 Tour of Flanders...

 
Fabian Cancellara
11 April 2010 Paris-Roubaix
2010 Paris–Roubaix
The 2010 edition of the Paris–Roubaix cycling classic took place on April 11, 2010. The race is the ninth event in the inaugural UCI World Ranking series. The race was won by Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara.- Teams :...

Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...

16 May 2010 Stage 8, 2010 Giro d'Italia
2010 Giro d'Italia
The 2010 Giro d'Italia was the 93rd edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro started off in Amsterdam on 8 May and stayed in the Netherlands for three stages, before leaving the country...

Chris Anker Sorensen
20 June 2010 2010 Tour de Suisse
2010 Tour de Suisse
The 2010 Tour de Suisse was the 74th edition of the Tour de Suisse stage race. It took place from 12 June to 20 June and was part of both the 2010 UCI ProTour and the World Calendar. It began with a short individual time trial in Lugano and ended with another time trial, in Liestal...

 
Fränk Schleck
3 July 2010 Prologue, 2010 Tour de France
2010 Tour de France
The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996...

 
Fabian Cancellara
11 July 2010 Stage 8, 2010 Tour de France Andy Schleck
22 July 2010 Stage 17, 2010 Tour de France Andy Schleck
24 July 2010 Stage 19, 2010 Tour de France Fabian Cancellara
23 March 2011 Dwars door Vlaanderen Nick Nuyens
Nick Nuyens
Nick Nuyens is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . His biggest wins to date include the semi-classics Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, Omloop Het Volk, Paris–Brussels and the classic Tour of Flanders. He is generally viewed as a classics rider. He is married to the Belgian multiple...

3 April 2011 Ronde van Vlaanderen
2011 Tour of Flanders
The 2011 Tour of Flanders cycle race was the 95th edition of this monumental classic and took place on 3 April. The course was long and was held between Brugge and Ninove. The race was won by Nick Nuyens ahead of Sylvain Chavanel and Fabian Cancellara....

 
Nick Nuyens
15 May 2011 Stage 9, 2011 Giro d'Italia
2011 Giro d'Italia
The 2011 Giro d'Italia was the 94th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro started on 7 May with a team time trial in Turin to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, when the city served as the first capital of the single state.The route was...

 
Alberto Contador
24 May 2011 Stage 16, 2011 Giro d'Italia
2011 Giro d'Italia
The 2011 Giro d'Italia was the 94th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro started on 7 May with a team time trial in Turin to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, when the city served as the first capital of the single state.The route was...

 
Alberto Contador
29 May 2011 Overall, 2011 Giro d'Italia
2011 Giro d'Italia
The 2011 Giro d'Italia was the 94th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro started on 7 May with a team time trial in Turin to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, when the city served as the first capital of the single state.The route was...

Alberto Contador
6 September 2011 Stage 16, 2011 Vuelta a España
2011 Vuelta a España
The 2011 Vuelta a España was held from 20 August to 11 September. The race began in Benidorm with a team time trial and ended, as is traditional, in Madrid. The 2011 Vuelta was the 66th edition of the race and was the first Vuelta in 33 years that visited the Basque Country...

 
Juan José Haedo

Notable former riders

  • Kurt Asle Arvesen
    Kurt Asle Arvesen
    Kurt Asle Arvesen is a former Norwegian professional road bicycle racer for . Arvesen is from Eresfjord, Nesset. From 2012 he will be manager of ....

      (2004–2009)
  • Michele Bartoli
    Michele Bartoli
    Michele Bartoli is a retired Italian road racing cyclist. He was a single-day race specialist, winning three of the five Monument races. Bartoli won the UCI Road World Cup in 1997 and 1998.-Biography:...

      (2004)
  • Ivan Basso
    Ivan Basso
    Ivan Basso is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who is currently racing with UCI ProTeam . Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, is among the best mountain riders in the professional field in the 21st century, and is considered one of the strongest stage race riders...

      (2004–2006)
  • Matti Breschel
    Matti Breschel
    Matti Breschel is a Danish professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI ProTeam .-Career:He got his breakthrough with small Danish Team PH, finishing 6th at the U/23 Cycling World Championship in Verona in 2004 where he helped fellow Dane Mads Christensen finish 3rd...

      (2005–2010)
  • Fabian Cancellara
    Fabian Cancellara
    Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...

      (2006–2010)
  • Julian Dean
    Julian Dean
    Julian Dean is a road racing cyclist who rides for . Dean rode in the 2008 Tour de France, 2007 Tour de France, 2006 Tour de France and the 2004 Tour de France, finishing all four times. In 2008, he finished 9th in the points classification...

      (2002–2003)
  • Linus Gerdemann
    Linus Gerdemann
    Linus Gerdemann is a German professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for .-Career:After riding on amateur teams Team Winfix and Team AKUD Arnolds Sicherheit, in 2005 he became a professional rider for after a recommendation from Jens Voigt, signing on for a 2-year contract...

      (2005)
  • Matthew Goss
    Matthew Goss
    Matthew Harley Goss is an Australian professional road and track racing cyclist, currently riding for the UCI ProTour outfit .-Career:Goss started in the business with track cycling...

      (2007–2009)
  • Fabrizio Guidi
    Fabrizio Guidi
    Fabrizio Guidi is an Italian former road bicycle racer. Guidi won over 40 races since he turned professional in 1995, including two stages in Giro d'Italia and three stages of 1998 Vuelta a España. He also won the Intergiro competition of Giro d'Italia in 1996, 1999 and 2000...

      (2004)
  • Vladimir Gusev  (2004–2005)
  • Bo Hamburger
    Bo Hamburger
    Bo Hamburger is a former Danish professional road racing cyclist. He retired in 2006.He was fired from Team CSC in 2001, after a positive EPO test. He was later cleared legally since the B test was below the limit, but still higher than normal. Since then, the Danish Cycle Union refused to let Bo...

      (2000–2001)
  • Tyler Hamilton
    Tyler Hamilton
    Tyler Hamilton is a former American professional road bicycle racer and former Olympic gold medalist. Hamilton became a professional cyclist in 1995, and during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Tour de France was a teammate of Lance Armstrong who won those races.Hamilton appeared at the 2000 Summer...

      (2002–2003)
  • Tristan Hoffman
    Tristan Hoffman
    Tristan Henri Christiaan Hoffman is a former road racing cyclist from the Netherlands. Since early 2007 he is a directeur sportif for .-Major results:199119921993...

      (2000–2005)
  • Jörg Jaksche
    Jörg Jaksche
    Jörg Jaksche is a German road bicycle racer.He has been cycling professionally since 1997, racing for the teams Polti , Team Telekom , ONCE , CSC , Liberty Seguros-Würth/Astana and Tinkoff Credit Systems in 2007.In 2004, he won the Tour Mediterranean and the Paris–Nice race.In the 2005 Tour de...

      (2004)
  • Laurent Jalabert
    Laurent Jalabert
    Laurent Jalabert is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as "Jaja" , he won many one-day and stage races and was ranked number 1 in the 1990s...

      (2001–2002)
  • Bobby Julich
    Bobby Julich
    Robert Julich, most commonly referred to as Bobby Julich, is an American former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for Team CSC in the UCI ProTour racing series. He got his international breakthrough when he finished 3rd overall in the 1998 Tour de France race, but has since ridden...

      (2004–2008)
  • Alexandr Kolobnev
    Alexandr Kolobnev
    Alexandr Viktorovich Kolobnev is a Russian professional road bicycle racer on the UCI ProTour with , currently suspended after his A sample revealed doping products.-Career:...

      (2007–2009)
  • Karsten Kroon  (2006–2009
  • Giovanni Lombardi
    Giovanni Lombardi
    Giovanni Lombardi is an Italian former professional road bicycling racer who raced from 1992 to 2006. He started his career as a sprinter, winning multiple stages in the Giro d'Italia. He went on to ride as an important helper for the top sprinter names of Erik Zabel and Mario Cipollini. Most...

      (2005–2006)
  • Lars Michaelsen
    Lars Michaelsen
    Lars Michaelsen is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for Team CSC. He got his break through in his second year as a professional, when he won the 1995 edition of Gent–Wevelgem. In the 1997 Vuelta a España he won stage 1 and wore the leader's jersey for three days...

      (2003–2007)
  • Stuart O'Grady
    Stuart O'Grady
    Stuart O'Grady OAM , nicknamed Stuey, is an Australian professional road bicycle racer on UCI ProTeam , who started as a track cyclist. He and Graeme Brown won a gold medal in Men's Madison at the 2004 Summer Olympics...

      (2006–2010)
  • Andrea Peron
    Andrea Peron
    Andrea Peron is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. Peron turned professional in 1993, riding for team Gatorade...

      (2002–2006)
  • Jakob Piil
    Jakob Piil
    Jakob Storm Piil is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer, where he later lived many years in Odense. He is an all-round rider, known for his aggressive style of riding, whose speciality is to pick the right breakaways. He is the cousin of Danish former professional bicycle racer Jørgen V...

      (2000–2006)
  • Michael Rasmussen
    Michael Rasmussen
    Michael Rasmussen is a Danish professional road bicycle racer who rides for the Danish team Christina Watches-Onfone. In the 2007 Tour de France, Rasmussen, while in the yellow jersey, had his contract terminated by his team and was removed from the Tour...

      (2001–2002)
  • Carlos Sastre
    Carlos Sastre
    Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...

      (2002–2008)
  • Andy Schleck
    Andy Schleck
    Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...

      (2004–2010)
  • Fränk Schleck
    Fränk Schleck
    Fränk René Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . At the start of 2005, Schleck was joined by his younger brother Andy on , and they split the 2005 national championships between them, with Fränk winning the road race and Andy winning the time trial...

      (2002–2010)
  • Jesper Skibby
    Jesper Skibby
    Jesper Skibby was born 21 March 1964 in Silkeborg, Denmark. He was a professional rider in road bicycle racing, and one of the most popular in Denmark, not only because of his talent, but also because of his wit and his constant banter...

      (1998–2000)
  • Rolf Sørensen
    Rolf Sørensen
    Rolf Sørensen is a former Danish professional road bicycle racer. He is the most successful Danish bicycle racer ever, with his 53 victories over 17 seasons. He is currently working as a cycling commentator and agent. Born in Helsinge in Denmark, Sørensen moved to Italy at the age of 17, where he...

      (2001)
  • Christian Vande Velde  (2005–2007)
  • Jens Voigt
    Jens Voigt
    Jens Voigt is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . Voigt is known for his propensity to attack, and for his positive racing attitude. He is capable of repeated attacking, holding a high tempo, and breaking away from the peloton...

      (2004–2010)
  • David Zabriskie
    David Zabriskie
    David Zabriskie is a professional road bicycle racer from the United States who rides for . His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stage wins in all three Grand Tour stage races and winning the US National Time Trial Championship six times...

    (2005–2007)

External links

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