January 6, 2011 (Montreal, QC) – The Juvéderm Specialized Mazda (formerly Specialized Mazda Samson) team received a UCI licence this week reports team VP Michael Des Ilets. “We are the only women’s team in Canada to have this,” he noted. “And the last time that a Canadian women’s team had a UCI licence was with RONA in 2005. We also have a new title sponsor, Juvéderm.” Des Ilets also revealed that there was a team merger with Nanoblur Gears. (we’ve heard from Chris Reid, an old Pedal correspondent, who says the last Canadian Women’s UCI team was actually ExpressCopy in 2007 – to be confirmed)

“Gerard [Penarroya] and I came up with the idea of a merger last June, so we approached Nanoblur’s Malcolm Eade who was surprised, but jumped at the chance of such a partnership. So we met few times in order to see what we could do. Actually the idea of the UCI licence was right there because that way we would not have to split the riders between our teams and we would have most of the top Canadian athletes on board. And we’re hoping that Clara Hughes be on the track for us as well.”

“Our selection of a directeur sportif has not been finalized yet, as we will have two coaches on occasion,” he continued. “The management team is Gerard Penarroya, Michael Des Ilets, and Malcolm Eade from the merger with Nanoblurs. Our title sponsors are Juvéderm, Specialized, and Mazda. The team’s first races will be Redlands and San Dimas [in California].”

New recruit Lex Albrecht told Pedal at a team brunch in November that, “This team is a cool group of girls. We have a blast when we get together and work well together. If you’re not having fun [with your team], it’s a downer.” The news that Albrecht had signed on was under embargo until this week.

Apart from picking up Albrecht from the now defunct Cascades team, Juvéderm Specialized Mazda also has Joanie Caron, Anne Guzman, Krystal Jeffs, and Véronique Labonté from Nanoblurs, together with Denise Ramsden from Kenda. Des Ilets indicates that he will let the cyclists decide who should be the team captain in 2011, a position held by Jenny Trew in 2010.

2011 Juvéderm Specialized Mazda roster:

– Lex Albrecht
– Joanie Caron
– Valérie Crête
– Véronique Drapeau Zgoralski
– Anne Guzman
– Krystal Jeffs
– Véronique Labonté
– Moriah MacGregor
– Denise Ramsden
– Jenny Trew
– Mary Zider