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History |
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Over the last few years Team CSC and the company behind the group, Riis Cycling A/S, have undergone a striking transformation. In terms of sports and business a lot has happened since autumn 1996 when the first step was taken to create what is today one of the world's best cycling teams, and a company that last year won the Danish business magazine B�rsen's Gazelle Prize. Bjarne Riis took over the team and company in 2000, and has since headed the entire project, which continues to develop under his guidance, vision, and ideas.
The company was founded and based in Herning until winter 2003 when Riis Cycling A/S moved its headquarters to Lyngby, north of Copenhagen. The company employs about 60 people. The new headquarters will be the future centre for numerous new business initiatives originating with Riis Cycling A/S under the management of Managing Director Claus Lindholm.
In terms of sport, the last three seasons have resulted in many substantial victories. In 2001 Laurent Jalabert had a real breakthrough in popularity and cycling results in the Tour de France with what was then Team CSC Tiscali. Two stage victories and the Best Climber's Jersey made the team, and Jalabert in particular, one of the competition's strongest competitors.
The following year Jalabert again won the Best Climber's red and white polka-dot jersey. Prior to this, the team's new gamble, Tyler Hamilton, had fought for the overall victory in the Giro d'Italia. With guidance from Bjarne Riis, the American was retrained, and went from being Lance Armstrong's key assistant rider to becoming one of the strongest stage riders in the sport. With a stage victory and an overall second place finish in the Giro, the scene was set for Tour de France 2003. Together with the team's other Tour trump card, Carlos Sastre, and the newly acquired Peter Luttenberger, Hamilton's Team CSC contributed with a solid victory in the team competition in the centenary Tour de France in which the team brought home three sensational stage victories, making them one of the TDF's lead teams. Tyler Hamilton's broken collarbone created a crisis, but the team rose to deliver a successful tour of historic proportions.
The team has also attained great success in the prestigious classics. Jalabert won Clasica San Sebastian in both 2001 and 2002, after which he ended his phenomenal career with Team CSC. Jakob Piil won his first World Cup race in the 2002 Paris-Tours. In the spring of 2003 Tyler Hamilton won the Li�ge-Bastogne-Li�ge, in addition to putting in a stupendous team performance. This provided the take-off for an exceptionally successful 2003 season in which the team brought home a total of twenty-three victories.
Following Hamilton's departure, the team now faces a new chapter with eleven new riders out of the team of twenty-five. It now aims for a season that will feature a wide variety of contests from the early spring races to the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espa�a, ending with the Giro di Lombardia. Its ambitions remain still high in both stage races and the classics.
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Wachovia Cycling Series |
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On Thursday Lars Michaelsen finished third in Wachovia Classic [more] |
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Deutschland Tour |
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Jens Voigt captains Team CSC in this week's Deutschland Tour [more] |
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Dauphin� Lib�r� |
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Team CSC has selected its line-up for next week's Dauphin� Lib�r� [more] |
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Team CSC Newsletter |
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Get a free email-newsletter whenever the official Team CSC website is updated [more] |
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Team CSC Video |
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This video takes you inside the Team CSC training camp in Lucca [more] |
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