Team Sunweb are pleased to announce that Ruth Winder (USA) and Pernille Mathiesen (DEN) will join their Women’s Program for the upcoming 2018 season, both having signed a one-year contract with the team.
Both talents complete Team Sunweb’s impressive women’s roster for the coming season, which over the years continues to go from strength to strength. The UK-born Winder has collected a bundle of strong results and is known for her aggressive racing style, a common trait of Team Sunweb’s women’s program. Among the strong results this season she finished 2nd at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, 3rd at the American national championships, won two stages at Tour de Feminin alongside both the general classification and points jersey. Most recently she finished in an impressive 2nd place in the GC at the Lotto Belgium Tour. Mathiesen is an up-and-coming talent and at just 19 years old she has already demonstrated her huge potential. This year she placed 4th in the Danish national road race championships and 2nd in the time trial. After these strong results she went on to win the double at the U23 European championships, taking the victory on both the road and in the time trial.
Winder said: “I’m really excited to join the team and race full time in Europe. This is a team full of strong riders and I’m looking forward to learning from all of my team mates. I feel like I am developing more and more as a climber and hope that this brings added value to the team. I have always admired Team Sunweb for their professional structure and the way they race. They go into a race with a clear plan and always have a good time on the bike, and at the same time achieve their goals, which is the perfect combination.”
Mathiesen said: “I joined the team’s German Talent Days twice, once as a junior and then again after I stepped up to elite level, so feel like I already have a good idea of how they work and about the atmosphere in the team. I have always considered Team Sunweb as the dream team, the team that I would absolutely love to ride for so that it’s actually happening is amazing for me. There are so many strong riders that I can learn a lot from and the professional environment is perfect for me to develop into a better rider.”
Team Sunweb coach Hans Timmermans (NED) said of Winder joining: “Since the beginning of the season we have followed races from across the ocean and Ruth’s name was one that was always present. We saw her race for the first time at the Tour of California and immediately knew that she would be a rider that would fit into our team. She rides aggressively, likes to attack, has a big engine and is a complete all-round talent. Her focus and ambition are very clear and we’re confident that she is a rider that will easily adapt to racing in the European peloton. We will work together to develop her capabilities as a world class rider, with a focus on the classics season where she will be one of our final riders with the designated team leader.”
Speaking of Mathiesen joining, Timmermans added: “We have known Pernille for a few years now after she has attended our German Talent Days on two occasions. After her dominant performance at the Euros we knew that she was ready to make the step into our team. Together we have already identified her strengths and weaknesses, and we have already seen some improvements with these points over the past few months which demonstrates her ability to work to our approach. At just 19 years old we see that she shares similar qualities to Ellen van Dijk and in this environment we envisage her continuing in the same successful path as Ellen has done throughout her career. Her strength in time trials is evident and she will play a key role in our spring classics campaign, as well as being a real asset to our lead-out throughout the year.”
