HTC–Highroad () was a former professional

cycling team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...

competing in international

road bicycle race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

s. Their last title sponsor was

HTC Corporation HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t), or High Tech Computer Corporation (abbreviated and trading as HTC), is a Taiwanese consumer electronics corporatio ...

, a Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones but dissolved at the end of the 2011 season from a failure to find a new sponsor. High Road Sports was the management company of team manager

Bob Stapleton Bob Stapleton (born April 1, 1958, in Riverside, California) is an American entrepreneur and the former team owner of cycling team . Stapleton was previously the team manager of when it was known as . The transition to owner occurred on November ...

. Past title sponsors include

Columbia Sportswear The Columbia Sportswear Company is an American company that manufactures and distributes outerwear, sportswear, and footwear, as well as headgear, camping equipment, ski apparel, and outerwear accessories. It was founded in 1938 by Paul Lamf ...

and

Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. It was formed in 199 ...

. The team was founded in 1991 as Team Telekom, sponsored by Deutsche Telekom. In 2004 their name changed to the T-Mobile Team. The team was under the management of

and Rolf Aldag. Former leaders included Olaf Ludwig,

Walter Godefroot Walter Godefroot (born 2 July 1943) is a retired Belgian professional road bicycle racer and former directeur sportif of , later known as T-Mobile Team. As amateur cyclist, he won the bronze medal in the individual road race of the 1964 Summe ...

and Eddy Vandenhecke (managers), Luuc Eisenga (spokesperson) and

Brian Holm Brian Holm Sørensen (born 2 October 1962) is a retired Danish professional rider in road bicycle racing from 1986 to 1998, who rode for Team Telekom from 1993 to 1997 and was part of the team that brought his fellow Dane Bjarne Riis to victory ...

, Valerio Piva (sports directors).

History

Team beginnings: 1988–1991

At the end of 1988, former World Champion

Hennie Kuiper Hendrikus Andreas "Hennie" Kuiper (born 3 February 1949) is a Dutch former professional road racing cyclist. His career includes a gold medal in the Olympic Road bicycle racing, road race at 1972 Summer Olympics, Munich in 1972, becoming world ...

set up a German

that was sponsored by the city of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

and rode on Eddy Merckx Cycles. The team was called ''Stuttgart-Merckx-Gonsor'' for the 1989 season and had nine riders (which included Udo Bölts). At that time when there were no German cycling teams and the country's main cycling event, the Rund um den Henninger Turm had not been won by a German since Rudi Altig in 1970. During its first year of existence team rider Dariusc Kajzer brought the team its first success in the National Road Race Championships in Germany. The team became ''Stuttgart-Mercedes-Merckx-Puma'' in 1990 and Bölts continued the success of the team by becoming road race champion of Germany.

Team Telekom: 1991–2004

came in as the main sponsor in 1991 and the team was known as ''Telekom-Mercedes-Merckx-Puma''. According to an interview with Godefroot, it was Bölts’ 17th place at the

1991 Vuelta a España The 46th Edition ''Vuelta a España'' (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 29 April to 19 May 1991. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of , and was won by Melcior Mauri of the ...

that prompted him to accept the Telekom management's offer to take over the running of the team. Godefroot signed several riders including Classics specialist and 1991

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

winner Marc Madiot. Bölts who was involved with the team since its beginnings in 1989 would stay with the team until 2003, continued building on the successes of the team by winning stage 19, the Queen stage of the

1992 Giro d'Italia The 1992 Giro d'Italia was the 75th edition of the race. It started off in Genoa on 24 May with an individual time trial. The race concluded in Milan with an individual time trial on 14 June. Twenty teams entered the race, which was won b ...

. Jens Heppner continued this streak with his overall tenth place at the 1992 Tour de France. The Telekom team signed all the promising cyclists that were coming from Germany at that time and who were becoming successful. These included

Jens Heppner Jens Heppner (born 23 December 1964) is a German former road bicycle racer. He wore the pink jersey as leader of the general classification during the 2002 Giro d'Italia. Although he rode for Telekom during ten years, he has consistently denied ...

and Christian Henn in 1992,

Erik Zabel Erik Zabel (; born 7 July 1970) is a German former professional road bicycle racer who raced for most of his career with Team Telekom. With 152 professional wins and 211 wins in his career, he is considered by some to be one of the greatest Germ ...

, Rolf Aldag and Steffen Wesemann in 1993 and

Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in fro ...

in 1994. Many of these riders would ride for more than ten years with the team. Olaf Ludwig also signed in 1993 and finished his career with the team. In 1994, Zabel won the first

UCI Road World Cup The UCI Road World Cup was a season-long Road bicycle racing, road cycling competition held from 1989 until 2004 and comprising ten one-day events. The World Cup was made up of around ten Road bicycle racing, one-day races chosen from the prest ...

victory in the history of the team, the

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m ...

. In 1993, the team again achieved success in the national championship road race in Germany. This was the start of the team's 11 year domination and possession of the German champion's jersey. Many of the successful team riders that spent many years of their career with Telekom would become German national champions – Bernd Gröne in 1993, Jens Heppner in 1994, Bölts in 1990, 1995 and 1999, Christian Henn in 1996, Jan Ullrich in 1997 and 2001, Erik Zabel in 1998 and 2003, Rolf Aldag in 2000, Danilo Hondo in 2002 and finally Andreas Klöden in 2004. Image-1Tdf-1996-123

The team soon became an important presence on the international cycling stage. However the team was not invited to the

1995 Tour de France The 1995 Tour de France was the 82nd Tour de France, taking place from 1 to 23 July. It was Miguel Induráin's fifth and final victory in the Tour. On the fifteenth stage Italian rider Fabio Casartelli died after an accident on the Col de Portet ...

. Eventually the organisers of the Tour agreed that six Telekom members, namely Rolf Aldag, Udo Bölts, Jens Heppner, Vladimir Pulnikov, Erik Zabel and Olaf Ludwig would join with three members of the ZG Mobili to form a composite team. Zabel went on to win two stages in the race. The next two years saw the international breakthrough of the team. Godefroot brought in the Danish rider,

Bjarne Riis Bjarne Lykkegård Riis (; born 3 April 1964), nicknamed ''The Eagle from Herning'' (), is a Denmark, Danish former professional road bicycle racer who won the 1996 Tour de France. For many years he was the owner and later manager of the Oleg Tink ...

, the third-place finisher of the 1995 Tour and he went on to win the

1996 Tour de France The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd edition of the Tour de France, starting on 29 June and ending on 21 July, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day (10 July). It was won by Danish rider Bjarne Riis. Th ...

, with the then 22-year-old German support rider

finishing in second place. In addition, Zabel won the first of six green jerseys for winning the points competition. Bolts won the Clásica de San Sebastián and Wesemann won his second and the first of four wins with the Telekom team of the

Peace Race The Peace Race (, , , (), , , , ) is a cycling race that was established as the largest event in Eastern Europe after the Second World War. Since 2013, it has been run as one of the most prestigious stage races for national U23 teams. Histo ...

. The

1997 Tour de France The 1997 Tour de France was the 84th edition of the Tour de France and took place from 5 to 27 July. Jan Ullrich's victory margin of 9:09 was the largest margin of victory since Laurent Fignon won the 1984 Tour de France by 10:32. Since 1997 no r ...

saw the emergence of Ullrich as he won the race with support from Riis, who in turn had won the World Cup race,

Amstel Gold Race Amstel Gold Race may refer to: * Amstel Gold Race (men's race) The Amstel Gold Race is a one-day classic cycle races, classic road bicycle race, road cycling race held annually since 1966 Amstel Gold Race, 1966 in the province of Limburg (Netherl ...

earlier in 1997. Team Telekom also won the team classification, as the overall strongest team of the 1997 Tour. In addition, Bolts won the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Zabel won

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

for the first of four times with the team. Ullrich also won the Championships of Hamburg semi-classic. The following year this race was elevated to the status of World Cup. In addition the Deutschland Tour returned in 1999 – evidence of the continuing popularity of cycling in Germany at the time. While Ullrich had a crash in the race and was forced to retire, Team Telekom did win the first edition of the race with Heppner and would win the race again with

Alexander Vinokourov Alexander Nikolayevich Vinokourov ( Kazakh and Russian: ; born 16 September 1973) is a Kazakhstani former professional road bicycle racer and the current general manager of UCI WorldTeam . He is of Russian origin. As a competitor, his achieveme ...

in 2001. Ullrich finished second in the

1998 Tour de France The 1998 Tour de France was the 85th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. The race was composed of 21 stages and a prologue. It started on 11 July in Ireland before taking an anti-clockwise route t ...

but went on to win the 1999

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

, although he missed the

1999 Tour de France The 1999 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 86th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Ant ...

due to a knee injury. After winning the Vuelta, Ullrich became World time trial champion which enabled him to wear the rainbow jersey during time trials. He would win this again in 2001. The next year, Zabel won the overall World Cup victory, having won the Milan–San Remo and Amstel Gold Race, while Ullrich was placed second again in the

2000 Tour de France The 2000 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 1 to 23 July, and the 87th edition of the Tour de France. There was no overall winner following a vacating of results by the United States Anti-Doping Agency announcement on 24 ...

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...

. Ullrich won the gold medal in the Olympic road race and the silver medal in the Olympic time trial. In 2001, Zabel won Milan–San Remo for the fourth time. Ullrich came in second in the

2001 Tour de France The 2001 Tour de France was a race stage, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race held from 7 to 29 July, and the 88th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the eve ...

, while Zabel won six stages combined in the 2001 Tour and Vuelta. Kazakh rider

won the

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

stage race in 2002, a feat he would duplicate in 2003, also winning the Amstel Gold Race and

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse () is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France, which is on the calend ...

that year. As Ullrich left the team to form Team Bianchi in 2003, Vinokourov became team leader for the

2003 Tour de France The 2003 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 5 to 27 July, and the 90th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti- ...

. He finished in third place, just below the second placed Ullrich. Zabel won the 2003 Paris–Tours, while Italian rider Daniele Nardello took the

Züri-Metzgete Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; ; ) was a European Classic cycle races, Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 until 2014. It was a race with a long history ...

. The team had a continuous presence at the top of the professional peloton and continued to sign the emerging German cyclists of the times including

Andreas Klöden Andreas Klöden (born 22 June 1975) is a German former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1998 and 2013. His major achievements include a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games and finishing second in the gene ...

in 1998, Jörg Jaksche in 1999, Matthias Kessler in 2000 and Stefan Schumacher in 2002. In addition, the team also signed many successful non-German riders such as Georg Totschnig,

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along with ...

, Santiago Botero and

Paolo Savoldelli Paolo Savoldelli (born 7 May 1973) is a former Italy, Italian road racing cyclist and winner of the 2002 Giro d'Italia, 2002 and 2005 Giro d'Italia. Savoldelli was a climbing specialist, climber but known for his fast downhill riding. He is nick ...

. In 2005 a film titled '' Hell on Wheels'' was released. It is a record of the 100th anniversary (but only the 90th running because of World War I and World War II) of the 2003 Tour de France in from the perspective of the then-Team Telekom.

T-Mobile: 2004 – November 2007

From 2004, the team changed its name to

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand of telecommunications by Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telec ...

. Jan Ullrich returned to the team. The team achieved a great number of success, among which was Steffen Wesemann's win in the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

. Coming up to the

2004 Tour de France The 2004 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 91st edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Ant ...

, Kloden became German road race champion and Ullrich won the

and raced the

as team leader, while Vinokourov did not ride the Tour de France for the team. Jan Ullrich finished fourth, while

was the best placed rider of the team in second place. T-Mobile Team won the team classification, as the overall strongest team of the 2004 Tour. In the spring season of 2005, Vinokourov won the

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

classic race. Ullrich, as the team leader, finished 3rd overall in the

2005 Tour de France The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It took place between 2–24 July, with 21 stages covering a distance . It has no overall winner—although American cyclist ...

. Alexander Vinokourov rode in support, and finished fifth as he won two stages, including the final stage on the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc ...

. Italian rider Giuseppe Guerini also won a stage and T-Mobile Team matched their 2004 feat by once again winning the team classification in 2005. Zabel won the

for the third time at the end of the season. In July 2005, during the 2005 Tour, Vinokourov's contract was running out and speculation was abundant if he was to stay with T-Mobile. With four days left of the 2005 Tour, he made an announcement that he would leave the team to pursue his own chances of winning the Tour de France as a team captain and after the Tour he joined the

Liberty Seguros Liberty Mutual Insurance Company is an American diversified global insurer and the sixth-largest property and casualty insurer in the world. It ranks 87th on the ''Fortune'' 100 list of largest corporations in the United States based on 2024 re ...

team. After 13 years with Team Telekom and T-Mobile Team, Erik Zabel also left in 2005 to ride for the newly formed Team Milram. Before the 2006 season, Walter Godefroot stepped down and Olaf Ludwig became the new T-Mobile team manager.

Doping scandals: 2006–2007

In the most controversial scandal since the 1998 tour, thirteen riders were expelled from the

2006 Tour de France The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It took place between the 1st and the 23rd of July. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of Floyd Land ...

stemming from a Spanish doping scandal, on the eve of Strasbourg prologue to the 93rd edition. Jan Ullrich, one of the favorites to win the race, was among those excluded from the Tour. Another T-Mobile rider,

Óscar Sevilla Óscar Miguel Sevilla Rivera (born 29 September 1976), nicknamed ''El Niño'', is a Spanish-Colombian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . He is a Bicycling terminology#climber, climber with a pedigree ...

, was also expelled, leaving the team starting with only seven riders. On July 9, the team announced the dismissal of its sporting director, Rudy Pevenage, for his implication with former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich in a Spanish

blood doping Blood doping is a form of Doping in sport, doping in which the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream is boosted in order to enhance athletic performance. Because such blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, a higher concentr ...

scandal. "The contract linking T-Mobile to Pevenage has been retrospectively stopped on June 30", the team's general manager, Olaf Ludwig, said. On July 21, 2006, T-Mobile fired Jan Ullrich from the team pending the doping investigation. Serhiy Honchar - prolog TdF 2006

At the

, T-Mobile won the team classification for the third consecutive year,

reached the podium (3rd place) for the second time,

Matthias Kessler Matthias Kessler (born 16 May 1979 in Nuremberg) is a German former professional road racing cyclist who competed from 2000 to 2007 for and . Biography Kessler debuted as a pro during the 2000 season after becoming German under 23 champion in 1 ...

won Stage 3,

Serhiy Honchar Serhiy Gonchar (; born 3 July 1970) is a Ukrainian former professional road racing cyclist. He won the World Time Trial Championship in 2000. Due to a temporary spelling error in his passport, he is often incorrectly called Honchar. Career G ...

won two

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

s (Stages 7 and 19) and wore the

yellow jersey The general classification of the Tour de France is the most important classification of the race and determines the winner of the race. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification has worn the yellow jersey ( ). History For the first t ...

for 3 days (after Stages 7–9). After the Tour de France, the team changed significantly; team manager, Olaf Ludwig left the team and was replaced by

. Rolf Aldag,

Allan Peiper Allan Peiper (born 26 April 1960), is a retired Australian professional cyclist and current pro cycling team manager. He began cycling at 12 years of age, competing on both road and track, with success. Selected for the Australian team, at the ...

and

Tristan Hoffman Tristan Henri Christiaan Hoffman (born 1 January 1970 in Groenlo, Oost Gelre) is a Dutch former road racing cyclist. After his racing years he became a directeur sportif for Team CSC, and later for . He also competed in the men's individual road ...

became ''directeur sportifs''. As already discussed Ullrich, Sevilla and Pevenage were dismissed from the team. Several riders who had been with the team for a long time such as Steffen Wesemann,

and

left. However, the reason is unclear. Jörg Ludewig was put on suspension and his contract was not increased in connection with intention to dope previously in his career and before he joined T-Mobile. Eddy Mazzoleni who was in his first year for the team also left. The contracts of Bram Schmitz and Bas Giling were not renewed. Dr. Lothar Heinrich, the team doctor since 1995, and Dr. Andreas Schmid set up a new comprehensive testing system. Following the revelations that came out of the Operación Puerto investigation, Heinrich allegedly nearly quit the sport but instead he joined with Stapleton and other team staff to create a new system of internal controls and health checks that he insisted would demonstrate that T-Mobile riders were clean and to restore credibility to the sport. In May 2007, several former riders admitted to using banned substances (including EPO) while riding for the team in the mid-1990s, including

, Rolf Aldag,

, Bert Dietz, Udo Bölts and Christian Henn including the seasons in which Riis and Ullrich won the Tour de France. Team doctors Andreas Schmid and Lothar Heinrich also confessed to participating and administering banned substances. The latter was Team Telekom's sporting director until May 3, 2007, when he was suspended following allegations published in former team member Jef d'Hont's book. Jef d'Hont had worked as a massage therapist for Team Telekom in 1992–96, and revealed in his book how the doping system had been organized at the team, throughout those years. In an effort to present a renewed image the team brought a young team to the

2007 Tour de France The 2007 Tour de France the 94th running of Tour de France, the race, took place from 7 to 29 July. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and ...

, and promoted a drug-free attitude and image. Despite this, team member Patrik Sinkewitz tested positive for elevated testosterone during a training camp. The test results were only announced when Sinkewitz had dropped out of the Tour because of injury. He was still in hospital when he was suspended from Team T-Mobile, and was dismissed on July 31, 2007.

Team High Road: November 2007 – June 2008

In November 2007, Deutsche Telekom AG announced that it was to end sponsorship of professional cycling with immediate effect. The team continued under the name "Team High Road" through June 2008. The team changed nationality in February 2008, switching from Germany to the United States. The team continued due to the funding from the team owner, Bob Stapleton, as the team did not have enough time to gather sponsors for the new year. The team had a successful start to the year with Luxembourg rider,

Kim Kirchen Kim Kirchen (born 3 July 1978) is a Luxembourgish former road racing cyclist. He is the son of cyclist Erny Kirchen and the great-nephew of cyclist Jeng Kirchen. Career Kirchen signed as a professional cyclist in 2000 with De Nardi-Pasta Monte ...

winning the classic La Flèche Wallonne. Results like this and also High-Road's performance at the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

helped the team secure a sponsor for the end of the year.

Team Columbia and Team Columbia–High Road: July 2008 – June 2009

On June 15, 2008

announced a three-year sponsorship of the team beginning on July 5, the start of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, changing the name to "Team Columbia". The sponsorship included both the men's and women's teams. The team went on to have a highly successful Tour, winning 5 stages (four of which went to British sprinter

Mark Cavendish Sir Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Manx people, Manx retired professional cyclist. As a Track cycling, track cyclist he specialised in the Madison (cycling), madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he ...

) and team leader

lead the overall classification for four days and the points competition for three.

Team Columbia–HTC: June 2009 – January 2010 and Team HTC–Columbia: January 2010 – 2011

Etape 3 tour de France 2009 - Peloton 4 by Mikani Edit

On June 29, 2009

HTC HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t), or High Tech Computer Corporation (abbreviated and trading as HTC), is a Taiwanese consumer electronics corporatio ...

announced a three-year sponsorship of the team beginning with the 2009

. The team's new name was "Team Columbia–HTC." Like the

sponsorship, the HTC sponsorship included both the men's and women's teams. The team enjoyed great success at the

2009 Tour de France The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco. The race visite ...

with

winning 6 stages over the course of the 3 weeks. The most memorable of these was his victory on the

in Paris where he won by a huge margin; almost 30m, with his own lead out man,

Mark Renshaw Mark Renshaw (born 22 October 1982) is a retired Australian racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2019 for the , , , , and teams. His most notable wins are the general classification of the 2011 Tour of Qatar, and the one-d ...

having enough time to come in 2nd with his arms raised. A documentary film called '' Chasing Legends'' was later released that covered the 2009 tour through the eyes of HTC–Columbia. August proved a very good month for Norwegian all-rounder

Edvald Boasson Hagen Edvald Boasson Hagen (born 17 May 1987) is a Norwegian former road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2006 to 2024. He was ranked as no. 3 in the world by Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI as of 31 August 2009, when he was 22 y ...

, with two stage wins and a podium finish in the Tour of Poland and two more stage wins and the GC win in the Eneco Tour. After stage wins in the other two Grand Tours of 2009, it took the team only three days to win yet another in the Vuelta, where Gregory Henderson took home the flowers. Despite its many successes, Team Columbia did not seem to be able to afford as many top riders as they had, and due to their many victories, a lot of riders were targeted by other teams for the 2010 season. Notable riders such as

, Michael Barry,

George Hincapie George Anthony Hincapie (born June 29, 1973) is an American former racing cycle sport, cyclist, who competed professionally between 1994 and 2012. Hincapie was a key domestique of Lance Armstrong. Hincapie was also a domestique for Alberto Contad ...

and Thomas Lövkvist elected to leave the team. As replacements, a lot of young talented riders, such as Jan Ghyselinck, Rasmus Guldhammer and

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

and Peter Velits were contracted. On October 17, 2010, Team Columbia HTC announced a tie up with Specialized for 2011. Specialized would supply the team's frames, forks, and helmets. The men would race the S-Works Tarmac for most road races, the S-Works Roubaix for cobbled classics, and the Shiv TT in time trials. The all-new S-Works Prevail and TT3 helmets would protect the riders in road and TT applications, respectively. On August 4, 2011, General Manager, Bob Stapleton announced that Team HTC–Highroad were to fold at the end of the 2011 season after failing to find a new sponsor. The team's final event was the Chrono des Nations, in October 2011. The men's and women's teams both finished with victories, Tony Martin winning the men's 48 km time trial, while Amber Neben won the women's 20 km event. This gave the team 121 victories in its final year. HTC–Highroad was voted 2011 Team of the Year by Cyclingnews.com, and won the Best Team and Best Women's Team awards at the Velonews awards for 2011.

Major wins

National, continental, world and Olympic champions

;1989 :

German Road Race, Dariusz Kajzer ;1990 : MaillotAllemania

German Road Race, Udo Bölts ;1994 : MaillotAllemania

German Road Race,

;1995 :

German Road Race, Udo Bölts : MaillotAllemania

German Time Trial,

;1996 :

Danish Road Race,

Danish Time Trial,

;1997 :

Austrian Road Race, Georg Totschnig : MaillotAustria

Austrian Time Trial, Georg Totschnig : MaillotAllemania

German Road Race,

;1998 :

German Road Race,

;1999 :

UCI World Champion Time Trial,

German Road Race, Udo Bölts ;2000 : MaillotAllemania

German Road Race, Rolf Aldag ;2001 : MaillotAllemania

German Road Race,

UCI World Champion Time Trial,

Kazakhstan Road Race,

Andrey Mizurov Andrey Mizurov (, born March 16, 1973) is a Kazakhstani former professional road bicycle racer. Major results ;1991 :1st Overall Giro della Lunigiana ;1997 :1st Overall Azerbaïjan Tour :1st Overall Tour of Croatia ;1998 :2nd Time trial, ...

;2002 :

German Road Race,

Danilo Hondo Danilo Hondo (born 4 January 1974) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. He won the German National Road Race in 2002. He competed in the men's team pursuit at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He was banned from professional cycling an ...

;2003 :

German Road Race,

;2004 :

German Road Race,

;2005 :

Kazakhstan Road Race,

Russian Road Race,

Sergei Ivanov Sergei Borisovich Ivanov (, ; born 31 January 1953) is a Russian senior official and politician who has been serving as the Special Presidential Envoy on the Issues of Environmental Activities, Ecology and Transport since 12 August 2016. He h ...

;2006 :

Austrian Road Race, Bernhard Kohl ;2007 : MaillotAllemania

German Time Trial,

Bert Grabsch Bert Grabsch (born 19 June 1975) is a German former road bicycle racer, who raced as a professional between 1999 and 2013. He was born in Wittenberg and is the younger brother of fellow road racing cyclist Ralf Grabsch. He is a former UCI time ...

: Italian Time Trial, Marco Pinotti ;2008 : MaillotAustralia

Australian Time Trial, Adam Hansen : MaillotNoruega

Norwegian Time Trial,

Luxembourg Time Trial,

: Italian Time Trial, Marco Pinotti : Czech Time Trial,

František Raboň František Raboň (born 26 September 1983) is a Czech mountain biker for the Specialized Racing Factory Mountain Bike Team. He was formerly a road racing cyclist for UCI ProTeams , and . Born in Prague, Raboň turned professional in 2006 with ...

German Time Trial,

UCI World Champion Time Trial,

;2009 :

Australian Time Trial, Michael Rogers : Italian Time Trial, Marco Pinotti : MaillotNoruega

Norwegian Time Trial,

: Czech Time Trial,

Luxembourg Time Trial,

German Time Trial,

: Belgian Time Trial, Maxime Monfort : MaillotUSA

US Road Race,

;2010 :

Belarusian Time Trial, Kanstantsin Sivtsov : MaillotAllemania

German Time Trial, Tony Martin : Italian Time Trial, Marco Pinotti : MaillotLetonia

Latvian Road Race,

Aleksejs Saramotins Aleksejs Saramotins (born 8 April 1982) is a Latvian professional road cyclist, who last rode for UCI Continental team . He has won the Latvian National Road Race Championships on seven occasions and has represented his country at the Summer Ol ...

Slovak Time Trial, Martin Velits ;2011 : MaillotNuevaZelanda

New Zealand Road Race,

Hayden Roulston Hayden Roulston (born 10 January 1981) is a New Zealand former professional racing cyclist. He won the silver medal in the men's 4000 m individual pursuit and a bronze medal in the men's 4000 m team pursuit at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beiji ...

Belarusian Time Trial, Kanstantsin Sivtsov : MaillotAllemania

German Time Trial,

Irish Road Race, Matthew Brammeier : MaillotIrlanda

Irish Time Trial, Matthew Brammeier : MaillotLetonia

Latvian Time Trial, Gatis Smukulis : Jersey rainbow

UCI World Road Race,

Riders

References

External links

*
UCI Protour: Team profile of HTC-Highroad
{{DEFAULTSORT:HTC-Highroad Cycling teams based in the United States Cycling teams based in Germany Defunct cycling teams based in the United States Defunct cycling teams based in Germany Former UCI WorldTeams Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf Cycling teams established in 1991 Cycling teams disestablished in 2011 1989 establishments in Germany 2011 disestablishments in the United States Deutsche Telekom HTC Corporation