Team Columbia HTC train at Club La Santa

Posted: Friday December 11, 2009

Team Columbia-HTC aren’t just good. They’re very good. In fact, they’re ranked the best in the world by Eurosport.

This year the squad of 39 (28 men and 11 women) has totalled 132 wins from 21 different riders.

28 of them pedalled over to Club La Santa for some pre-season training and team-building – we say “pedalled” but mean “arrived along with an enormous Columbia-HTC-branded lorry carrying their bikes.”

Among them was GB’s Mark Cavendish, who’s been named International Cyclist of the Year in Belgium and Rider of the Year by Eurosport.

At the Tour De France he won an impressive 6 stages and he’ll be finding out shortly if he’s beaten another Club La Santa regular, Jenson Button, in the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year. [update – neither did sadly, the award went to Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs].

The Team Columbia-HTC squad consists of 18 nationalities with 9 national champions from Australia, Germany, England, Denmark, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Italy, Sweden and Norway. The team also includes 6 former world champions.

Staying in Lanzarote

The team were welcomed by the Tourist Board of Lanzarote, which sponsored 3 accompanying cars to follow them on their training routes.

It also laid on a Spanish gala dinner for the squad.

Club La Santa
The 28 cyclists were accompanied by a vast team of 37 experts, including sports directors, masseurs, mechanics and doctors, for the 10 day training camp.

Mark Cavendish told us there were key aims for his trip to Club La Santa:

“I want to win the Green Jersey in next year’s Tour de France and the Road Cycling World Championships.”

Sports Director, Rolf Aldag has been a regular here at Club La Santa. The 41-year-old German first visited as a child and then returned with Team Telekom:

“Yes, I was also here more than 10 years ago as a team member with Bjarne Riis and Jan Ulrich in Team Telekom, because Club La Santa and Lanzarote is the ideal place to get in shape for cycling. Back then the focus was placed on two riders, whereas today Team Columbia-HTC consists of many riders capable of winning big races,” he explained.

“We are looking forward to the challenging mountains in this nice weather while it is snowing in Northern Europe. Afterwards, we can relax in the Club La Santa wellness centre, having a massage and enjoying the spa and sauna.”

The Team Columbia-HTC elite squad consists of Adam Hansen, USA; Andre Greipel, Germany; Marco Pinotti, Italy; Rabon Frantisek, Czech Republic; Michael Rodgers, Australia; Kanstansin Sivtsov, Belarus; and the Danes Rasmus Guldhammer and Lars Bak.

Proof once again, that if you want to be at the top of your game, it’s worth booking some time at Club La Santa!

Good luck for next season….