From Cervelo TestTeam to Garmin-Cervélo Team

The Cervelo TestTeam was created in 2008 as a direct result of Team CSC Saxo Bank switching their frames from Cervelo to Specialized, after Cervelo provided them frames exclusively for five years. Cervélo cofounder Gerard Vroomen has said that bicycle manufacturers have for long not gotten much out of sponsorship and supplier deals with professional teams and that their money was better spent fronting their own team. Their registration as a UCI Professional Continental Team was confirmed on December 2.

In the six months between the end of the Tour de France and the team's first training camp in Portugal in January 2009, a roster of 25 riders and an entire supporting staff was hired. The team entered nearly 20 major one-day races in the spring season in 2009, failing to make at least the top ten in only one, the Gran Premio dell'Insubria.

Now with teams working with bigger budgets, Cervelo has opted to discontinue the Cervelo TestTeam. But there is good news for Cervelo and the Cervelo TestTeam riders, Garmin has teamed up with the Canadian frame manufacture to form the Garmin-Cervelo Team. With over seven former TestTeam members already signed up, it looks to be a promising year for thew new team.