One day after Thor Hushovd announced that he was moving on from Garmin-Cervélo, the team has announced that it has signed another Scandinavian rainbow jersey-wearer to the squad. Alex Rasmussen, who has won world titles in the scratch, Madison and team pursuit as well as taking an Olympic silver medal in the 2008 team pursuit, is coming on board next season.
“Alex is a great talent and we're very excited to bring him to our team in 2012,” said Jonathan Vaughters, Slipstream Sports CEO. “He's proven that he's versatile rider - he's obviously gifted on the track and he's translated that to the road.
“He is great in lead outs, he's an exceptional time trialist, and he's developing into a great Classics rider. He'll be a strong addition and we look forward to working with him next year.”
Vaughters later clarified that Rasmussen has been given a two year contract.
Rasmussen’s time trial success is a major attraction for Garmin-Cervélo, which is understood to be targeting the new trade-team time trial race at the 2012 world championships. The team was victorious at the same discipline in this year’s Tour de France, and has always attached high value to the event.
The 27 year old Dane was second in the final time trial at this year’s Giro d’Italia, finishing seven second behind Garmin-Cervélo’s David Millar. He punctured with one kilometre to go and might otherwise have won. He also finished second in the prologue of the Ster ZLM Toer and sprinted to victory in the Philadelphia International championship in June.
Rasmussen raced with Saxo Bank between 2009 and 2010, and is currently part of the HTC Highroad team that will stop at the end of the season.
His work with the latter will also be a boost to Garmin-Cervélo’s sprint train.