September 28, 2005 — Cervélo Cycles and Riis Cycling, the management company of Team CSC, are pleased to announce that they have extended their collaboration through to 2009.

In addition to providing bikes for Team CSC, the renewed agreement gives Cervélo more responsibility and an increased mandate. Cervélo will play a lead role in the development for new rider-director in-race communication tools and a bike handling & dynamic stability research project (combining Cervélo’s new computer simulation of bike handling with Riis’ and Team CSC’s experience in road testing).

The day Cervélo and Team CSC signed their first contract in August 2002, the Team was 14th in the UCI team ranking and Cervélo was just another small bike manufacturer. Today, Team CSC is the #1 team in the UCI ProTour ranking and Cervélo is generally acknowledged as one of the most innovative bike companies in the world.

“I am very happy that we are continuing our brilliant collaboration with Cervélo,” said Ivan Basso, Team CSC. “It has been a pleasure being part of the development of their bikes. I’ve been constantly impressed with their technology and it means a lot to me that we have the best material available. Cervélo bikes give us a competitive edge and I know that I can win the biggest races on these bikes.”

In a business where the sponsorships get more and more expensive, here is a small company that has been able to compete with the big bike conglomerates.

“Essentially that’s because of our design and engineering philosophy,” said Gerard Vroomen, Cervélo’s co-founder. “We have always felt very strongly that development should be performance-driven rather than marketing-driven as we want to add actual value for the end-user. For a customer like Team CSC this is obviously even more important because marketing hype doesn’t win races. Phil [White] and I are of the opinion that we should earn our sponsorship rather than simply buy it, and the results for both parties show that it is working. Team CSC rides superior product, and we can offer that same product to our other discerning customers.”

“We remain committed to Cervélo,” said Bjarne Riis, “not because Team CSC wins every race or because Cervélo is the biggest, but because being the best is about dedication & a commitment to excellence, and those are principles we both share.”

“An example of the teamwork that Team CSC and Cervélo have created is evident in the new Soloist Carbon,” said Phil White, Cervélo co-founder, “the first bike that could truly be called a complete collaboration between us. I’ve said it before and it bears repeating, they have made us better bike designers. Based on the results the riders have already achieved on this new model in two short months, we know this is a winning relationship. Also, with Ivan Basso touted as the top contender for the 2006 Tour de France, it is good for him to know that we’ll continue to push the envelope and provide him with a great ride for years to come.”