January 9, 2006 – From December 28-29, 2005 the first Univega Pro Cycling Team meeting to prepare for the 2006 season took place in the ski area of Engelberg, Switzerland. The primary objective of the meeting was to integrate new team members and strengthen team spirit.

An intial gathering was held at the Mountain Hotel Trübsee-Hof, with Univega manager Thomas Campana and the complete team (except Pascale Schnider who was in L.A., Emma Rickards and Joanne Kiesanowski). Nicole Cooke, the new team leader, who was visiting Switzerland for her first time, was enthralled by the white splendor of the beautiful mountain landscapes.

After the 2006 racing program was discussed team management announced the goals for the new season: to be one of the top three UCI Pro Teams at the end of the next season, to support Nicole Cooke to win the overall World Cup 2006 title, and to win one of the three Grand Tours!

Team Manager Campana commented, “If you have the current TT World Champion (Karin Thürig), the 2005 Road Worlds silver medallist (Nicole Cooke), as well as a number of good and experienced riders on the team, the expectations are very high for the coming season.”

After the meeting they headed to an igloo village where they enjoyed a tasty Swiss cheese fondue. Then riders and staff spent the night in “comfortable” 2°C weather, in polar sleeping-bags sleeping in an igloo.

All team members agreed the challenge was fun and look forward to their next team meeting – a training camp in Melbourne, Australia, beginning the first week of January 2006.