San Luis Obispo, CA – 31st March 2010 – After wins by Judith Arndt in 2008 and Ina-Yoko Teutenberg in 2009, HTC-Columbia will be aiming for nothing short of a third straight victory in the Tour of Flanders in Belgium this Sunday.

Rated women’s cycling’s toughest Classic, the 119.3-kilometre World Cup race is shaped by its nine steep cobbled climbs and often made even tougher by poor weather. Arndt was forced to miss last year’s race after breaking her collarbone, but returns this April to join Teutenberg and an exceptionally strong HTC-Columbia line-up.

“I think I’m in good shape and I’m feeling pretty confident, even if you’re always a bit nervous about your first big European race of the season,” Teutenberg said. With six wins already this season in the USA, the HTC-Columbia pro says so far her year has been a success. “The fields were more competitive than last year, but the races went well all the same, which is a good sign. With Judith back and also Noemi [Cantele], we’ve got a very strong lineup for Flanders, and we’re ready for all kinds of different situations, too. Flanders is a race which you take kilometre by kilometre. You have to see what kind of weather there is, because Flanders is so difficult and the weather changes things a lot.”

“We’re definitely in the position of being the favorites with our line-up, and since we’ve won it two years in a row, even more so,” adds HTC-Columbia sports director Ronny Lauke. “I don’t think that makes it more complicated. Having so many good riders just gives us more options and makes it more difficult for the other teams to figure out who we are going to be racing for. That’s an advantage. In any case, our goal remains the same – we want to win Flanders for a third consecutive year.”

HTC-Columbia women’s team for Tour of Flanders: Judith Arndt (Ger); Noemi Cantele (Ita); Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Ger); Ellen Van Dijk (Hol) ; Linda Villumsen (NZ), Adrie Visser (Hol).

For more information on Team HTC-Columbia, please visit www.highroadsports.com

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