Source from www.scott-sports.com

The Columbia-HTC men's squad has completed the 2009 road racing season with more wins than any other ProTour team. Starting with Mick Rogers' [AUS] victory in the Australian National Time Trial Championships on January 8th and ending with Marco Pinotti's [ITA] first place in the Citta di Stressa time trial in Italy on October 18th, Columbia-HTC racked up 86 victories by 15 different riders.

Pinotti's victory came in the last race for Columbia-HTC this year, a season in which the men's and women's squads have taken a combined total of 132 victories by 21 different riders.



The 2009 victories saw Columbia-HTC riders take 17 Grand Tour stage wins, as well as the Milan-San Remo 'Monument'. Other highpoints of the season included Ghent-Wevelgem, Paris-Bourges and Eroica Classics, six stage wins in the Tour of Switzerland, seven national time trial championships titles, the US National road-race, and the final Green jersey - Columbia-HTC's first in a "Grand Tour - in the Vuelta a Espana. Columbia-HTC riders also secured overall victory in the Eneco Tour and multiple stage wins in the Tours of Britain, Missouri, Poland, Austria, Qatar, California, the Basque Country and Murcia in Spain, the Ster Elektrotoer in Holland, the Bayern Rundfahrt in Germany, the Tour of Romandie in Switzerland and the Three Days of De Panne in Belgium.



"2009 proved to be an outstanding year for Columbia-HTC," commented team owner Bob Stapleton. "We had ambitious goals with this international team of young riders, and we exceeded even our own expectations. Seventeen Grand Tour victories, wearing the green and white jerseys at the Tour de France and the Giro's maglia rosa, the gold leader's jersey at the Vuelta. These are fantastic accomplishments, but its the exemplary teamwork demonstrated by our athletes and staff that we are most proud of" "What makes me so pleased about this degree of success is that everybody got their chance and everybody took their chance," commented Columbia-HTC manager Rolf Aldag. "We did very well in 2008, but in 2009 what I'd highlight is the quality of the wins. Seventeen wins in major Tours, for example, is an amazing total. I can't say which victory was the most memorable, although watching the entire team pull away on stage three of the Tour and then Mark Cavendish sprinting across the line in first place was pretty impressive. In terms of the quality of wins, I'd just say it's almost impossible to get better on that level. In 2010 we'll be looking to see if our younger riders can confirm the faith we have in them. Guys like Tony Martin and all of new, young riders from the amateur ranks we're bringing in."