February 15/08 7:57 am - Tour of California: High Road Team Presentation Photos

Posted by Editoress on 02/15/08
 

Photos

Earlier this afternoon Team High Road held their official team presentation in Palo Alto to introduce both the men's and women's squads. The team, as most are aware, is a rebirth from the ashes of the T-Mobile squad. British cycling announcer Phil Ligget was brought in to MC the event.

After a brief chat with team owner Bob Stapleton, the team was introduced in three waves - the women, the younger riders (referred to as the 'Young Guns') and the older more experienced core of the team (referred to as 'The Vets').

The full squad has been listed previously, but here it is again below.

Men's Team

Michael Barry
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Marcus Burghardt
Mark Cavendish
Gerald Ciolek
Scott Davis
John Devine
Bernhard Eisel
Linus Gerdemann
Bert Grabsch
Andre Greipel
Roger Hammond
Adam Hansen
Greg Henderson
George Hincapie
Kim Kirchen
Andreas Klier
Servais Knaven
Craig Lewis
Thomas Lokvist
Tony Martin
Marco Pinotti
Morris Possoni
Frantisek Rabon
Vicente Reynes
Michael Rogers
Marcel Sieberg
Sivtsov Kanstantin
Bradley Wiggins

Women's Team

Mara Abbott
Kim Anderson
Judith Arndt
Kate Bates
Chantal Beltman
Emilia Fahlin
Luise Keller
Alex Rhodes
Madeleine Sandig
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg
Linda Villumsen
Anke Wichmann
Oenone Wood

Ligget chatted with selected riders from each group, but the star of the presentation was the final rider introduced - George Hincapie. Hincapie joined High Road after Discovery pulled the plug last year, and it looks to have been a very savvy mood with the freezing out of Astana (which took most of the Discovery program) from the Grand Tours. Hincapie will lead the High Road squad at the Amgen Tour of California (AToC).

With the team now registered in the U.S., AToC is a major focus for the team, and a strong squad will support Hincapie, as well as being able to contest for stage wins. In addition to Hincapie the team will be:

Mark Cavendish
Gerald Ciolek
Adam Hansen
Kim Kirchen
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Thomas Lovkvist
Bradley Wiggins

Michael Barry will not be on the AToC team, and he explains that it is due to his health problems last year. "I'm having a slower start to the season after last year to build up more gradually, and this is a very important race for us."

Barry is heading back to Europe tonight after the training camp and team presentation, and will begin his racing season next week in Italy. He also says that he is scheduled to do the Giro and "the Tour and the Olympics are both what I would like to do, so it is up to me to prove that I am capable."

We have a video interview with Michael which will go up in the morning.

Tonight is the official team presentation.

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