# 2010 Team HTC–Columbia season

The 2010 season for Team HTC–Columbia began in January with the Tour Down Under and ended in October at the Giro di Lombardia. As a UCI ProTour team, they were automatically invited and obliged to send a squad to every event in the ProTour. The team's general manager was Bob Stapleton, in his third year with the team.
With the team's focus shifting to full-time support of prolific sprinter Mark Cavendish, many riders left the team after the 2009 season, most for the new Team Sky. Several young riders, most of them in their first year at this level of the sport, joined the team to be members of Cavendish's new leadout train, which lacked Cavendish's primary leadout man from 2009, Mark Renshaw, for the first several months of the season due to Epstein-Barr virus. Cavendish's own training and development were also stunted because of a dental infection.

## 2010 roster

Ages as of January 1, 2010.
| | Rider | Date of birth |
| Michael Albasini (SUI) | Michael Albasini (SUI) | (1980-12-20)December 20, 1980 (aged 29) |
| Lars Bak (DEN) | Lars Bak (DEN) | (1980-01-16)January 16, 1980 (aged 29) |
| Mark Cavendish (GBR) | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | (1985-05-21)May 21, 1985 (aged 24) |
| Gert Dockx (BEL) | Gert Dockx (BEL) | (1988-07-04)July 4, 1988 (aged 21) |
| Bernhard Eisel (AUT) | Bernhard Eisel (AUT) | (1981-02-17)February 17, 1981 (aged 28) |
| Jan Ghyselinck (BEL) | Jan Ghyselinck (BEL) | (1988-02-24)February 24, 1988 (aged 21) |
| Matthew Goss (AUS) | Matthew Goss (AUS) | (1986-11-05)November 5, 1986 (aged 23) |
| Bert Grabsch (GER) | Bert Grabsch (GER) | (1975-06-19)June 19, 1975 (aged 34) |
| André Greipel (GER) | André Greipel (GER) | (1982-07-16)July 16, 1982 (aged 27) |
| Patrick Gretsch (GER) | Patrick Gretsch (GER) | (1987-04-17)April 17, 1987 (aged 22) |
| Rasmus Guldhammer (DEN) | Rasmus Guldhammer (DEN) | (1989-03-09)March 9, 1989 (aged 20) |
| Adam Hansen (AUS) | Adam Hansen (AUS) | (1981-05-11)May 11, 1981 (aged 28) |
| Leigh Howard (AUS) | Leigh Howard (AUS) | (1989-10-18)October 18, 1989 (aged 20) |
| Craig Lewis (USA) | Craig Lewis (USA) | (1985-01-10)January 10, 1985 (aged 24) |
| | Rider | Date of birth |
| Tony Martin (GER) | Tony Martin (GER) | (1985-04-23)April 23, 1985 (aged 24) |
| Maxime Monfort (BEL) | Maxime Monfort (BEL) | (1983-01-14)January 14, 1983 (aged 26) |
| Marco Pinotti (ITA) | Marco Pinotti (ITA) | (1976-02-25)February 25, 1976 (aged 33) |
| František Raboň (CZE) | František Raboň (CZE) | (1983-09-26)September 26, 1983 (aged 26) |
| Mark Renshaw (AUS) | Mark Renshaw (AUS) | (1982-10-22)October 22, 1982 (aged 27) |
| Vicente Reynès (ESP) | Vicente Reynès (ESP) | (1981-07-30)July 30, 1981 (aged 28) |
| Michael Rogers (AUS) | Michael Rogers (AUS) | (1979-12-20)December 20, 1979 (aged 30) |
| Hayden Roulston (NZL) | Hayden Roulston (NZL) | (1981-01-10)January 10, 1981 (aged 28) |
| Aleksej Saramontins (LAT) | Aleksej Saramontins (LAT) | (1982-04-08)April 8, 1982 (aged 27) |
| Marcel Sieberg (GER) | Marcel Sieberg (GER) | (1982-04-30)April 30, 1982 (aged 27) |
| Kanstantsin Sivtsov (BLR) | Kanstantsin Sivtsov (BLR) | (1982-08-09)August 9, 1982 (aged 27) |
| Tejay van Garderen (USA) | Tejay van Garderen (USA) | (1988-08-12)August 12, 1988 (aged 21) |
| Martin Velits (SVK) | Martin Velits (SVK) | (1985-02-21)February 21, 1985 (aged 24) |
| Peter Velits (SVK) | Peter Velits (SVK) | (1985-02-21)February 21, 1985 (aged 24) |
| Rider | 2009 team |
| Lars Bak | Team Saxo Bank |
| Jan Ghyselinck | neo-pro |
| Matthew Goss | Team Saxo Bank |
| Patrick Gretsch | Thüringer Energie Team |
| Rasmus Guldhammer | Team Capinordic |
| Leigh Howard | Team AIS |
| Hayden Roulston | Cervélo TestTeam |
| Aleksej Saramontins | Designa Køkken |
| Tejay van Garderen | Rabobank continental team |
| Martin Velits | Team Milram |
| Peter Velits | Team Milram |
| Rider | 2010 team |
| Michael Barry | Team Sky |
| Edvald Boasson Hagen | Team Sky |
| Marcus Burghardt | BMC Racing Team |
| Greg Henderson | Team Sky |
| George Hincapie | BMC Racing Team |
| Kim Kirchen | Team Katusha |
| Thomas Lövkvist | Team Sky |
| Morris Possoni | Team Sky |

## One-day races

Greipel scored the team's first one-day victory in February, before the spring season and the races known as 'classics' were held. Greipel was first over the line in the Trofeo Magaluf-Palmanovoa, a part of the Vuelta a Mallorca quasi-stage race, and expressed surprise at his victory on such a hilly course when asked after the race.

### Fall races
## Stage races

The team attended the Tour Down Under, with a squad headed by André Greipel. Though Greipel did not wish to be considered a favorite for victory in the event, he went on to win the event's general and points classifications, and three of the six stages. The team next took wins at two partially concurrent events in February, the inaugural Tour of Oman and the Volta ao Algarve. Howard's win in stage 4 in Oman was his first as a professional, while Greipel's successful early season continued in Portugal with wins in stage 2 and the points classification. Later in the month, Rogers won the Ruta Del Sol without winning a stage. It was his first overall stage race victory since 2003.

## Grand Tours
### Giro d'Italia

Team HTC-Columbia came to the Giro with a squad led by Greipel, the season's most prolific winner of individual days of racing and a heavy favorite in the Giro's flat stages, and Pinotti, who would try for a high overall placing and stage wins in the time trials. Pinotti was tenth in the stage 1 time trial in Amsterdam. Goss and Greipel both made all the splits occurring after many crashes marred stage 2. In the depleted sprint finish, the Australian took second despite entering the Giro prepared to be Greipel's leadout man. Greipel was fourth and did not seriously challenge stage winner Tyler Farrar. More crashes occurred in stage 3. Greipel again made all the selections, but again was not a factor in the sprint, taking just sixth on the day. The squad's best-placed rider prior the transfer to Italy was Sieberg in fifth, 7 seconds behind the race leader. With the squad noted as one of the favorites in the stage 4 team time trial, Sieberg, as well as Goss and Greipel both three seconds back of him, all had a realistic chance of taking the pink jersey. The squad finished the 32.5 km (20.2 mi) course with five riders together in 36'58". Goss and Greipel were among the five finishing together, but their 21-second gap to stage winners Liquigas–Doimo meant that the team missed out on getting the pink jersey.
Stage 7 was difficult, long and run partially on unpaved roads. The day on which the stage was run happened to have very heavy rain, making the course muddy and still more treacherous. Pinotti rode with the leaders most of the day, following a move by Alexander Vinokourov after overnight race leader Vincenzo Nibali needed a bike change. Pinotti was not quite able to bridge up to the leading trio of Vinokourov, Damiano Cunego, and stage winner Cadel Evans in the final kilometer, finishing six seconds back for fourth on the day. The result moved him into sixth in the overall standings. The ninth stage was very flat, without any categorized hills. Garmin–Transitions forced a grueling pace in the final kilometers, which led to a split in the field – only 47 riders finished together at the head of the field. Greipel had difficulties keeping the pace and was just 19th on the day. Goss rode at the front of the field intending to lead Greipel out, but when he saw that the big German was not at the front of the race with 400 m (1,300 ft) to go, he rode for himself and won the stage. The next day's stage was also flat, and Greipel again had troubles in the sprint, coming only seventh out of the nine riders who finished three seconds ahead of the rest of the peloton. In stage 11, when more than 50 riders formed the day's breakaway group, Goss was the only HTC-Columbia rider to make the selection. He did not come close to staying with the leaders, however, finishing just three seconds ahead of the peloton and with them nearly 13 minutes behind the stage winner. These results moved Pinotti out of the top ten overall. Pinotti took seventh in stage 12, when a late ten-man selection of General Classification favorites and hopefuls finished ten seconds ahead of the peloton. Lewis made a winning breakaway in stage 13. He attacked in the final kilometer and appeared poised for a stage win, but Manuel Belletti passed him up 100 m (330 ft) from the finish line.
Greipel would normally have pulled out of the race well before its most difficult mountain stages took place, but having missed out on the sprints in the race's first two weeks, he rode through the high mountain stages 14 and 15 (which Pinotti finished among the top ten in both) and the Plan de Corones time trial with stage 18 in mind. Very short and very flat, the stage was ideal for Greipel. The team rode a tempo at the head of the peloton to keep the day's breakaway in check, and caught them in the stage's final few kilometers. Getting an effective leadout from Sieberg and Raboň, Greipel at last took a Giro stage win.
In stage 19, which went over the Passo del Mortirolo, Pinotti returned to the top ten overall by finishing tenth on the day. Pinotti very nearly won the time trial which closed out the Giro. He posted a better split at the intermediate time check than provisional best and eventual stage winner Gustav Larsson, but faded in the final kilometers to finish two seconds back, for second. The result did, however, move him from tenth overall up to ninth, at a deficit of 14'20" to Giro champion Ivan Basso. The squad finished 16th in the Trofeo Fast Team standings but did much better in the Trofeo Super Team, coming in second in that classification.

### Tour de France

The team's squad for the Tour de France was largely centered around Cavendish and the goal of having him win the green jersey. This was in spite of the fact that the Manxman's season to date had been subpar, with only three victories before the Tour (in 2009 he had 13 wins before the Tour). Rogers, coming off overall wins in the Tour of California and the Ruta Del Sol, was the squad's General Classification hopeful.
Martin was one of the earliest starters in the prologue time trial, and was the leader for most of the day with a time of ten minutes and ten seconds. Fabian Cancellara was one of the day's last starters and was the only rider to beat Martin's time, leaving the young German second on the day. The first road race stage in Belgium featured many crashes, including one very near the finish line that greatly reduced the number of riders in position to sprint for victory. Renshaw avoided the pileups, but missed out on the stage win to Alessandro Petacchi. Cavendish finished with the second group on the road, not crossing the line until two and a half minutes after Petacchi. The squad was one of the fortunate few to emerge from the crash-ridden second stage without any injuries. The fourth stage was again flat and more straightforward this time, as there were no serious crashes on the day. Cavendish, however, continued to struggle, coming home a distant twelfth in the field sprint. Finally, in stage 5, Cavendish took his first win of the Tour, and appeared very emotional on the podium when accepting the day's honors. He added another sprint win the next day in stage 6. Stage 8 was the last before the Tour's first day, ending at Morzine-Avoriaz in the Alps, a stage sure to help define the race's overall classification. Rogers finished twelfth on the day and 20 seconds behind the first group on the road, but gaining time against some contenders such as Joaquim Rodríguez and Andreas Klöden. However, the high mountain stage 9, incorporating the Col de la Madeleine, Rogers lost four minutes to the stage winner and two minutes to the majority of the race's elite riders, falling to 14th. He continued to fall in the standings further from that point on, eventually finishing the race in 37th place.
Cavendish's success in the flats continued, however, as he won stage 11 with a sizeable lead over Petacchi and Tyler Farrar. The stage was notable for events which took place during that sprint. Farrar's leadout man Julian Dean and Cavendish's leadout man Renshaw clashed for position at the head of the peloton in the stage's final meters. As Dean led Farrar up the middle of the road with Renshaw to his left, the Aussie responded by head-butting him. Renshaw later stated that he was trying to keep Dean from maneuvering him into the roadside barricades, with safety as much a concern as victory, and Dean's line did deviate slightly as he rode. Amid the chaos, the three principal sprinters jumped for an unusually long final kick to the line, starting 400 m (1,300 ft) out. Race officials later expelled Renshaw from the Tour for the headbutting. Dean was not punished for the incident, though the possibility for penalty existed – Cavendish himself was assessed a penalty in the 2009 Tour de France for similar irregular sprinting. In stage 13 two days later, a field sprint seemed to be shaping up until Alexander Vinokourov slipped away for a solo win by a margin of 13 seconds. Cavendish indeed led the peloton across the finish line, but it was only for second place. Cavendish won the Tour's last two road race stages, stage 18 in Bordeaux and on the Champs-Élysées for the second year in a row, a Tour first. His five wins in the 2010 Tour gave him 15 for his career, the most ever for a sprinter despite only having ridden four Tours. His poor performances early in the Tour, however, meant he again fell just short of claiming the green jersey, losing out to Petacchi by 11 points. The squad finished 17th in the teams classification.

### Vuelta a España
## Season victories

| Date | Race | Competition | Rider | Country | Location |
| January 19 | Tour Down Under, Stage 1 | UCI ProTour | André Greipel (GER) | Australia | Tanunda |
| January 20 | Tour Down Under, Stage 2 | UCI ProTour | André Greipel (GER) | Australia | Hahndorf |
| January 22 | Tour Down Under, Stage 4 | UCI ProTour | André Greipel (GER) | Australia | Goolwa |
| January 24 | Tour Down Under, Overall | UCI ProTour | André Greipel (GER) | Australia | |
| January 24 | Tour Down Under, Sprints classification | UCI ProTour | André Greipel (GER) | Australia | |
| February 11 | Trofeo Magaluf-Palmanova | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Spain | Mallorca |
| February 17 | Tour of Oman, Stage 4 | UCI Asia Tour | Leigh Howard (AUS) | Oman | Nakhal |
| February 18 | Volta ao Algarve, Stage 2 | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Portugal | Lagos |
| February 19 | Tour of Oman, Teams classification | UCI Asia Tour | | Oman | |
| February 21 | Volta ao Algarve, Points classification | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Portugal | |
| February 25 | Ruta Del Sol, Overall | UCI Europe Tour | Michael Rogers (AUS) | Spain | |
| March 6 | Vuelta a Murcia, Stage 4 | UCI Europe Tour | František Raboň (CZE) | Spain | Alhama de Murcia |
| March 7 | Vuelta a Murcia, Overall | UCI Europe Tour | František Raboň (CZE) | Spain | |
| March 23 | Volta a Catalunya, Stage 2 | UCI ProTour | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | Spain | Banyoles |
| March 28 | Gent–Wevelgem | UCI ProTour | Bernhard Eisel (AUT) | Belgium | Wevelgem |
| April 10 | Tour of the Basque Country, Teams classification | UCI ProTour | | Spain | |
| April 11 | Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, Stage 1 | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Turkey | Istanbul |
| April 12 | Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, Stage 2 | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Turkey | Turgutreis |
| April 15 | Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, Stage 5 | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Turkey | Fethiye |
| April 16 | Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, Stage 6 | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Turkey | Finike |
| April 18 | Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, Stage 8 | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Turkey | Alanya |
| April 16 | Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, Points classification | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Turkey | |
| April 27 | Tour de Romandie, Prologue | UCI ProTour | Marco Pinotti (ITA) | Switzerland | Porrentruy |
| April 29 | Tour de Romandie, Stage 2 | UCI ProTour | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | Switzerland | Fribourg |
| May 16 | Tour of California, Stage 1 | UCI America Tour | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | United States | Sacramento |
| May 17 | Giro d'Italia, Stage 9 | UCI World Ranking | Matthew Goss (AUS) | Italy | Cava de' Tirreni |
| May 22 | Tour of California, Stage 7 | UCI America Tour | Tony Martin (GER) | United States | Los Angeles |
| May 23 | Tour of California, Overall | UCI America Tour | Michael Rogers (AUS) | United States | |
| May 27 | Giro d'Italia, Stage 18 | UCI World Ranking | André Greipel (GER) | Italy | Brescia |
| May 29 | Bayern-Rundfahrt, Stage 4 | UCI Europe Tour | Maxime Monfort (BEL) | Germany | Berching |
| May 30 | Bayern-Rundfahrt, Overall | UCI Europe Tour | Maxime Monfort (BEL) | Germany | |
| May 30 | Bayern-Rundfahrt, Sprints classification | UCI Europe Tour | Leigh Howard (AUS) | Germany | |
| June 6 | Philadelphia International Championship | UCI America Tour | Matthew Goss (AUS) | United States | Philadelphia |
| June 19 | Ster Elektrotoer, Stage 3 | UCI Europe Tour | Adam Hansen (AUS) | Netherlands | La Gileppe |
| June 20 | Ster Elektrotoer, Overall | UCI Europe Tour | Adam Hansen (AUS) | Netherlands | |
| June 20 | Ster Elektrotoer, Points classification | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Netherlands | |
| June 20 | Tour de Suisse, Stage 9 | UCI World Ranking | Tony Martin (GER) | Switzerland | Liestal |
| July 4 | Tour of Austria, Stage 1 | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Austria | Bludenz |
| July 8 | Tour de France, Stage 5 | UCI World Ranking | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | France | Montargis |
| July 9 | Tour de France, Stage 6 | UCI World Ranking | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | France | Gueugnon |
| July 9 | Tour of Austria, Stage 6 | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Austria | Laxenburg |
| July 11 | Tour of Austria, Points classification | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Austria | |
| July 15 | Tour de France, Stage 11 | UCI World Ranking | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | France | Bourg-lès-Valence |
| July 23 | Tour de France, Stage 18 | UCI World Ranking | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | France | Bordeaux |
| July 25 | Tour de France, Stage 20 | UCI World Ranking | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | France | Paris |
| August 2 | Tour de Pologne, Stage 2 | UCI World Ranking | André Greipel (GER) | Poland | Dąbrowa Górnicza |
| August 4 | Tour of Denmark, Stage 1 | UCI Europe Tour | Matthew Goss (AUS) | Denmark | Holstebro |
| August 7 | Tour of Denmark, Stage 4 | UCI Europe Tour | Mark Renshaw (AUS) | Denmark | Odense |
| August 7 | Tour de Pologne, Stage 7 | UCI World Ranking | André Greipel (GER) | Poland | Kraków |
| August 8 | Tour of Denmark, Stage 6 | UCI Europe Tour | Hayden Roulston (NZL) | Denmark | Rudersdal |
| August 8 | Tour of Denmark, Youth classification | UCI Europe Tour | Rasmus Guldhammer (DEN) | Denmark | |
| August 14 | Tour de l'Ain, Youth classification | UCI Europe Tour | Tejay van Garderen (USA) | France | |
| August 19 | Eneco Tour, Stage 2 | UCI ProTour | André Greipel (GER) | Belgium | Ardooie |
| August 22 | GP Ouest-France | UCI ProTour | Matthew Goss (AUS) | France | Plouay |
| August 23 | Eneco Tour, Stage 6 | UCI ProTour | André Greipel (GER) | Belgium | Heers |
| August 24 | Eneco Tour, Stage 7 | UCI ProTour | Tony Martin (GER) | Belgium | Genk |
| August 24 | Eneco Tour, Overall | UCI ProTour | Tony Martin (GER) | Belgium/ Netherlands | |
| August 24 | Eneco Tour, Young rider classification | UCI ProTour | Tony Martin (GER) | Belgium/ Netherlands | |
| August 28 | Vuelta a España, Stage 1 | UCI World Ranking | Team time trial | Spain | Seville |
| September 9 | Vuelta a España, Stage 12 | UCI World Ranking | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | Spain | Lleida |
| September 10 | Vuelta a España, Stage 13 | UCI World Ranking | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | Spain | Burgos |
| September 11 | Tour of Britain, Stage 1 | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Great Britain | Blackpool |
| September 13 | Tour of Britain, Stage 3 | UCI Europe Tour | Michael Albasini (SUI) | Great Britain | Swansea |
| September 15 | Vuelta a España, Stage 17 | UCI World Ranking | Peter Velits (SVK) | Spain | Peñafiel |
| September 16 | Tour of Britain, Stage 6 | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Great Britain | Great Yarmouth |
| September 16 | Vuelta a España, Stage 18 | UCI World Ranking | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | Spain | Salamanca |
| September 17 | Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen | UCI Europe Tour | Leigh Howard (AUS) | Belgium | Koolskamp |
| September 18 | Tour of Britain, Stage 8 | UCI Europe Tour | André Greipel (GER) | Great Britain | Newham |
| September 18 | Tour of Britain, Overall | UCI Europe Tour | Michael Albasini (SUI) | Great Britain | |
| September 19 | Vuelta a España, Points classification | UCI World Ranking | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | Spain | |
| September 19 | Grand Prix d'Isbergues | UCI Europe Tour | Aleksejs Saramotins (LAT) | France | Isbergues |

## Footnotes

* ↑ The riders on the squad were Bernhard Eisel, Martin Velits, Patrick Gretsch, Gert Dockx, Lars Bak, Marco Pinotti, Leigh Howard, and Adam Hansen
* ↑ The riders on the squad were Kanstantsin Sivtsov, Marco Pinotti, Peter Velits, Michael Albasini, Maxime Monfort, Michael Rogers, and Rasmus Guldhammer
* ↑ The riders on the squad were Mark Cavendish, Peter Velits, Martin Velits, Lars Bak, Hayden Roulston, Kanstantsin Sivtsov, Tejay van Garderen, Matthew Goss, and Bernhard Eisel