Cervélo TestTeam
 Cervélo TestTeam riding the team time trial stage of the 2009 Tour de Romandie. |
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| UCI code | CTT |
|---|---|
| Registered | Switzerland |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Disbanded | 2010 |
| Discipline | Road |
| Status | Professional Continental |
| Team manager(s) | Joop Alberda |
Cervélo TestTeam (UCI team code: CTT) is a former professional cycling team, whose license was held in Switzerland by the cycling management company Cycling United Racing. The team's title sponsor was Cervélo, a Canadian manufacturer of bicycle frames that previously exclusively supplied CSC–Saxo Bank. They competed in 2010 as a UCI Professional Continental team, but folded after the season.
The team formed in 2008 after Team CSC switched frames effective at the end of that season, to Specialized, after years of success with Cervélo. Their registration as a UCI Professional Continental Team was confirmed on December 2. Earlier that year, Carlos Sastre, then a member of Team CSC Saxo Bank, rode a Cervélo bicycle to victory in the Tour de France. Probably the team's most notable cyclist, Sastre said that being able to continually work with Cervélo to develop bicycle technology played a part in his decision to join the new team.
The team's first season was marked by success in one-day races, with several victories and podium finishes, and a rider in the top ten in nearly every race they entered. The team was prolific in winning individual stages in stage races, including in all three Grand Tours of the 2009 season.
As of August 1, 2010.
The founding of Cervélo TestTeam was a direct reaction to Team CSC Saxo Bank switching to Specialized. A press release issued by the team at the time they were first founded indirectly stated that Specialized had outbid them to become Saxo Bank's new supplier. Sastre and Roger Hammond were two of the first cyclists to be rumored to be joining the new team.Cervélo cofounder Gerard Vroomen has said that bicycle manufacturers have for long not gotten much out of sponsorship and supplier deals with professional teams and that their money was better spent fronting their own team. He approached Sastre two days after the conclusion of the 2008 Tour de France and told him about the new team, at which time Sastre verbally indicated to Vroomen that he would join the team. The other highly prominent cyclist on the squad is former Tour de France green jersey winner Thor Hushovd, who needed a new team following the collapse of Crédit Agricole after the 2008 season, and brought a number of Crédit Agricole riders to the team after signing.
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