page_title: 2009 Cervélo TestTeam season
section_title: Spring classics
hierarchical_section_title: 2009 Cervélo TestTeam season / One-day races / Spring classics
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Paris-Roubaix 2009&#160;: Johan Vansummeren, Thor Hushovd et Leif Hoste à l'arrivée à Roubaix
context_page_description: The 2009 season for the Cervélo TestTeam, its first, began in February with the Tour of Qatar and ended in October with the Giro di Lombardia. Though they applied for UCI ProTour status after their formation, the team competed in 2009 as a UCI Professional Continental team with wildcard status. This means that although they were not automatically invited to UCI ProTour events, they were eligible to be invited. Despite not being a ProTour team, they effectively competed at the highest level available in the sport - seventeen of the twenty-four UCI World Ranking events invited the team, including all three Grand Tours.
  The team formed for the 2009 season after their title sponsor, Cervélo, was outbid to remain the bicycle frame sponsor of Team Saxo Bank. The owners of the company wanted to remain at the highest level of pro cycling, and formed the TestTeam. The team's leader is 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre, who was one of the first riders to join the team.
  Cervélo TestTeam established itself as a strong classics team in its first year of existence, with three victories and seven other podium finishes in the spring season.
context_section_description: Right away, Cervélo established itself as a strong classics team. Hushovd won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as he outsprinted seven others in a chasing pack that caught two leading riders, including teammate Heinrich Haussler, just before the finish. The next day, the team finished on the podium at two different events, with Simon Gerrans finishing third in a sprint finish at the Gran Premio di Lugano and Jeremy Hunt likewise third in a sprint at Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne. The team got its second victory at the Giro del Mendrisiotto two weeks later, as Ignatas Konovalovas soloed to the finish line ahead of a 12-man chase pack.
  The team took two of three podium places in Milan–San Remo later in March. The race came down to its traditional closing sprint, which Haussler opened early with what seemed to be an insurmountable lead, only to be pipped for the victory by Mark Cavendish. Their speed was so great that they attained a 2-second gap over the other 32 riders in the sprint after only a few hundred meters of sprinting. Hushovd came in third. While the team was pleasantly surprised to get two podium places in the classic, Haussler himself appeared quite despondent at losing the sprint to Cavendish when talking to reporters after the race.
  At the Tour of Flanders in April, Haussler took another second place, although this one more resembled a victory as it was a 29-man sprint for second a minute behind the event's winner Stijn Devolder. Hushovd returned to the podium at Paris–Roubaix, getting to the line ahead of Leif Hoste and Johan Van Summeren in third just over a minute behind Tom Boonen. Haussler also did well in this event, finishing seventh, three minutes behind Boonen. It was after this event that Haussler became the leader of the inaugural UCI World Ranking. Dominique Rollin made the podium at Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen, finishing third in a sprint behind Alessandro Petacchi and Kenny Van Hummel. In June, as the early season one-day races were coming to an end, Haussler claimed a victory in the GP Triberg-Schwarzwald, outsprinting seven breakaway companions.
  In addition to their victories and numerous podiums, the team also had several close misses to that level of success. Dwars door Vlaanderen, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, Brabantse Pijl, the Gran Premio Miguel Indurain, the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège–Bastogne–Liège all had Cervélo riders finish in the top ten. The only major race on their busy spring one-day schedule to not see a Cervélo rider finish at least this high was the Gran Premio dell'Insubria, where their best-placed rider was 13th.
caption: Johan Vansummeren, Hushovd, and Leif Hoste as they approach the finish line of Paris–Roubaix inside the Roubaix velodrome.
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