Introducing Cervélo TestTeam

Bike industry’s thought leaders put a new spin on professional cycling and product innovation

Cervélo, Zipp, Speedplay, Vittoria and 3T are pleased to announce Cervélo TestTeam. Beyond racing, this new professional cycling team will provide a comprehensive, engineering-driven test ground for new product development.

“We are proud to have played an important part in taking Team CSC from fourteenth to first in the team world ranking and in Carlos Sastre’s Tour de France victory,” said Gerard Vroomen, co-founder of Cervélo. “It was the dedication to excellence by both the equipment sponsors and the team that made it happen. Most of all we appreciate the confidence Bjarne Riis had in us back in 2002 and thank him for these past six years. The financial realities of pro cycling today have caused a change in priorities for the team, and we respect that.

Our main reason to work with a team is to develop new products, and how better to accomplish that than by owning the team.”

Since its inception, Cervélo’s focus has been on R&D with a strategy built on four pillars: theoretical analysis, lab testing, materials and manufacturing research, and road & race testing.

• Theoretical analysis – Utilizing partnerships with key software vendors, and Cervélo’s custom created software programs, this provides state-of-the-art lay-up analysis and tube shapes.
• Lab Testing – For countless hours at the windtunnel and in the structural testing lab, Cervélo engineers put new products through a strict regimen of their own tests, highly developed procedures that surpass current industry standards.
• Materials & Manufacturing Research – Material research and manufacturing techniques provide a unique competitive edge. The pursuit of these disciplines has resulted in a test lab in California focused on developing the techniques for future generation Cervélo frames.
• Road and Race Testing - For the past six years this was accomplished in collaboration with Team CSC. As with all testing, Cervélo and its partners know that product development will be more efficient and effective with complete control over the activities and goals of the team.

“Cervélo TestTeam will race as a professional cycling team with a Continental Pro standing,” explained Vroomen, who sees the approach as a positive step that could help make the sport healthier. “Currently pro cyclists are judged only by their racing results, which places a lot of pressure on them to perform. Race performance is only one component of Cervélo TestTeam. Our riders will also be involved in field-testing and providing technical feedback. In addition they will participate in activities with our customers, making them more accessible to cycling fans.”

Cervélo TestTeam will be managed by Cycling United Racing out of Switzerland, together with the professional women’s team currently known as Team Cervélo-Lifeforce. “As a partner of the women’s team, we have seen their very high level of professionalism and their impressive results,” said Andy Ording, President of Zipp. “So it was a natural decision to use the current platform and reinforce it with additional staff.”

A four-year commitment of additional private funding provides a competitive budget to race at the highest level. With the core of the roster now confirmed, detailed announcements will be made in the next few weeks.

As for the team name, Cervélo TestTeam is a working title. Several companies have already expressed an interest in becoming a major sponsor, which may affect the final name of the team.