Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling has announced the signing of Emilia Fahlin for 2014. The 24-year-old Swedish champion is currently riding for Hitec Products, having turned professional with T-Mobile in 2007 and then spent her entire career with the various incarnations of the team.
“I’m pretty excited,” said Fahlin. “I’ve been in contact with Rochelle [Gilmore, Wiggle Honda team manager] for a while, and when she offered me a contract I was really happy. It’s the first year that Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling has been running but I see it as a really exciting project. Also because they’re working to promote women’s cycling, which is something that I see as very important, and something I really want to be a part of.
“So that was one key factor, and another is that it’s the first year that the team has been running and it’s had a great, great year,” she added. “I want to be part of that, and to help the team develop further next year.”
Hitec Products announced last week that it had secured Lotto-Belisol’s Ashleigh Moolman for 2014 and, while the Norwegian team is expected to remain largely unchanged, the departure of Fahlin will make room for the South African champion.
Despite being in its first season, Wiggle Honda has eclipsed many expectations with former two-time World champion Giorgia Bronzini taking 13 victories so far, including an record six-straight stages of the recent Route de France, while Danish-born New Zealander Linda Villumsen won the final stage and took the race overall.
“Emilia Fahlin is a well-known name in Women's Cycling, she has always been a reliable winner and worker in the world's biggest and strongest teams,” said Gilmore. “We're feeling very privileged that the Swedish National Champion has chosen to join the Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling team ahead of the 2014 season.
“Emilia was a perfect addition to Wiggle Honda, she will add significant strength to the team, to our lead-outs, to our TTT and TT's…” Gilmore added. “Plus Emilia herself is a very fast sprinter. Most importantly, Emilia shares the same passion as her new team members to promote Women's cycling and pave the way for the next generation of young female athletes.”