Team TIBCO – Silicon Valley Bank will return to Australia for its 2019 season kickoff, starting with the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under (TDU) from January 10-13. The team’s roster for the Australia block of races will include returning riders Alice Cobb (GBR), Alison Jackson (CAN), Brodie Chapman (AUS), Lauren Stephens (USA), Shannon Malseed (AUS) and new signing Sharlotte Lucas (NZL).
Brodie Chapman and Shannon Malseed will be fresh off of their National Championships from January 4-7 in Ballarat, where Malseed will be defending her National Championship title. Lucas will also join the squad after racing in the New Zealand National Championships. The TDU will mark the return of five-year Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank veteran, Lauren Stephens. In last year’s race, Stephens secured second place overall, a solid start to the season before being sidelined by injury for much of 2018.
Megan Guarnier Returns
The Australian roster will then return to the USA for team training camp, where they will be joined by new signings Nina Kessler and Rosanne Slik, and the team’s newest addition, Megan Guarnier. Guarnier raced for Team TIBCO – Silicon Valley Bank from 2010 through 2012 and won her first USA Cycling national road race championships with the team in 2012.
“I am delighted to have Megan on board for next season” said Team Founder and General Manager Linda Jackson. “Megan had so much raw potential when she first joined our team in 2010, and she went on to become one of the top female racers in the world. Our riders will benefit tremendously from her mentorship.”
“I am looking forward to returning to Team TIBCO Silicon Valley Bank in a mentorship capacity,” Megan said. “I have a lot of experience that I will enjoy passing on to the next generation of cyclists, and it is a natural fit for me to return to the team in which I kicked off my professional career. Team TIBCO – Silicon Valley Bank has a strong group of women who wish to compete at the highest level of professional cycling, and I would like to help them succeed.”
Team camp will be held from February 13th through 26th near the team’s headquarters in Northern California. The team’s schedule will include activities and team rides with co-title sponsors, TIBCO Software, Inc and Silicon Valley Bank, both headquartered in the Bay area. The team’s formal team presentation will take place on Saturday, February 16, 2018 at iTalico Restaurant in Palo Alto. Following the ITalico event, the team will head south to visit other California-based partners, including Praxis Works in Santa Cruz and the team’s clothing partner, Voler Apparel in Grover Beach.
More About Megan Guarnier
Among her many accolades, Guarnier won the UCI Women’s World Tour in 2017 and is a 3x USA Cycling National Champion, winning the road race in 2012, 2015 and 2016 and representing the United States in the 2016 Olympics. Guarnier won the Amgen Tour of California in 2016 and had stage victories in 2016 and 2017, and additionally secured an overall victory in the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile (’16), Philadelphia International Cycling Classic (’16), Tour de Yorkshire Women’s Race (’18). Guarnier will be rejoining Team TIBCO – Silicon Bank after racing with the Boels – Dolmans Cycling Team since 2014.
