Team information | |
---|---|
UCI code | SLU |
Registered | United States (2003–2011 & 2013–2014) Germany (2012 & 2015) |
Founded | 2003 |
Disbanded | 2015 (Canyon-SRAM set up for 2016 by Ronny Lauke) |
Discipline | Road |
Status | UCI Women's Team |
Bicycles | 2003–2008 Giant 2009–2011 Scott 2012–2014 Specialized 2015 Cervélo |
Key personnel | |
General manager | Kristy Scrymgeour |
Team manager(s) | Ronny Lauke Jens Zemke |
Team name history | |
2003 2004–2007 2007–2008 2008 2009 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013–2014 2015 |
Team T-Mobile Team T-Mobile Women Team High Road Women Team Columbia Women Team Columbia–High Road Women Team Columbia–HTC Women Team HTC–Columbia Women HTC–Highroad Women Team Specialized–lululemon Specialized–lululemon Velocio–SRAM Pro Cycling |
Velocio–SRAM Pro Cycling, formerly known as Specialized–lululemon, was a professional cycling team based in the United States that competes in elite road bicycle racing and track cycling events. The final-season title sponsors were SRAM Corporation and Cervelo bicycles. Velocio Sports was the holding company for the team and the place-holder during a larger search for a title sponsor.
Before 2012, the team was owned by Bob Stapleton's High Road Sports and was known in 2011 as HTC–Highroad Women. Following HTC's withdrawal of sponsorship and the failure to find a replacement sponsor, a new company, Velocio Sports, directed by High Road's former Marketing and Communications officer Kristy Scrymgeour, was set up to own the team, but most of the riders and other staff remained the same. High Road also operated an elite men's professional team known most recently as HTC–Highroad, which disbanded.
Prior to 2008, the team was named T-Mobile Women. Columbia Sportswear were a title sponsor from July 2008 until the end of 2010.
In August 2015, Scrymgeour announced that the team would be disbanded at the end of the 2015 season. Under Scrymgeour's management, and with the introduction of team time trials world championships for trade teams in 2012, the team has won every TTT world championships in the team's existence.
The main new riders for the team were the European Time Travel Champion Ellen van Dijk and the Canadian national champion Alex Wrubleski. Alexis Rhodes and Madeleine Sandig left the team and Anke Wichmann and Oenone Wood both retired.
The main new riders for the team were the Americans Amber Neben and Amanda Miller and the German time trial champion Charlotte Becker. Sadly, in January, Carla Swart died whilst training after being hit by a truck. After winning a stage, Ellen van Dijk won the Ladies Tour of Qatar which was the 400th victory for the team (men's and women's) since 2008. Ina Teutenberg won the fifth round in the Women's World Cup and the team won the seventh round, the Open de Suède Vårgårda team time trial. The team finished second overall in the World Cup. Judith Arndt finished fourth in the individual standings and Teutenberg fifth. At the end of the season Arndt took the third place in the UCI World Ranking, Teutenberg fourth and the team ended in second place in the team classification.