After a successful 2015 season that saw Team TIBCO-SVB reach the podium 81 times in six countries across four continents, the team announced its continued partnership with TIBCO Software Inc. and Silicon Valley Bank.
With TIBCO as title sponsor for 11 of the team’s 12 years, the company’s steadfast support has positioned the Team TIBCO-SVB program to be the longest running in professional women’s cycling in North America.
“We are delighted with the strength of our partnerships with TIBCO Software and Silicon Valley Bank as we head into an Olympic year,” Team Founder Linda Jackson said. “These partnerships have enabled us to build an exciting roster with an intensive, international racing calendar to help our athletes achieve their Olympic goals.”
Thomas Been, chief marketing officer for TIBCO Software, Inc., said TIBCO is excited for another year of working closely with team athletes as they engage the company’s customers and potential customers.
“It’s an honor to support such a fierce group of women who are agents of change within their field,” Been said. “Technology and cycling go hand in hand not just here in Silicon Valley but around the world using real-time data analysis to uncover the bigger picture in the sport.”
Silicon Valley Bank has been a major sponsor of the team for ten years and became a co-title sponsor in 2015. Greg Becker, chief executive officer for Silicon Valley Bank, said SVB’s co-title position reflects its significant support of the team’s driven and dedicated women.
“Team TIBCO-SVB’s success is a great example of focused teamwork driving toward a common goal,” Becker said. “With the new riders and the strength of the existing team, we’re anticipating an exciting year of cycling ahead.”
NEW YEAR, NEW RIDERS
For the 2016 season the team also announced the addition of five new riders to an impressive group of seven returning athletes.
Cheryl Clark, Lauren Hall, Lauren Komanski, Lindsay Myers and Brianna Walle add depth to an already strong core of riders. Two of the five athletes — Hall and Myers — are returning to Team TIBCO-SVB from previous years, forming a roster of 12 athletes that includes the following returning group:
- Alizee Brien: reigning U-23 Canadian National Time Trial Champion
- Emily Collins: multiple-podium finisher at major European stage races
- Jo Kiesanowski: 2015 New Zealand World Championships road team member
- Kathrin Hammes: 2015 German World Championships road team member
- Kendall Ryan: reigning U.S. Criterium National Champion
- Lauren Stephens: 2015 U.S. World Championships road team member, winner of the Joe Martin Stage Race, the ITT at the Tour of the Gila, second overall at the Tour de Feminin and l’Ardèche, third overall at Thüringen Rundfahrt
- Patricia Schwager: former Swiss National time-trial champion
Walle, a 31-year-old time-trialist and all-arounder began racing in 2010 and made a major mark on the international peloton this year. She finished fifth overall at the BeNe Ladies Tour in Holland following a fourth-place result in the individual time trial. She was ninth overall at La Route Feminin following a third-place finish in the opening prologue.
“It’s a great honor to be a part of Team TIBCO-SVB this coming season,” Walle said. “I believe that the depth of the team and the planned racing schedule will help propel me to the next level in my racing career. 2016 is looking really bright and I’m thrilled to be a part of the journey.”
Hall, meanwhile, is back in the Team TIBCO-SVB fold after racing for Jackson in 2012. In her sixth professional season the 36-year-old sprinter and all-arounder had a strong 2015 campaign, winning stage 2 and stage 5 at the Tour of New Zealand, the third stage of the Boels Rental Tour, as well as winning stage 4 at the Cascade Cycling Classic. In 2014, Hall won the women’s Gent Wevelgem while racing for the U.S. national team.
“I am so delighted to have Lauren back on the squad,” Jackson said. “I have always believed in her as a rider and have followed her career carefully over the past several years. She’s not only very talented; she is also a great teammate and a terrific ambassador for our partners. I am honored to have her back on TIBCO-SVB.”
Hall, a collegiate soccer player in Mississippi who now lives in Colorado, said she is looking forward to racing with the high-level Team TIBCO-SVB squad.
“It has been a warm welcome back to the team for the 2016 season,” Hall said. “This group of racers combined with the new World Tour calendar should be an exciting season and I look forward to another opportunity to podium in a spring classic.”
Komanski is a 30-year-old all-arounder going into her fourth year as a pro. In addition to racing for the U.S. national team at the UCI World Road Championships in Richmond, Virginia, Komanski’s 2015 results included a podium finish at the Winston Salem Classic and a third overall at the Women’s Amgen Tour of California.
“Joining an established UCI team is an exciting step in my cycling career,” Komanski said. “We have a strong squad, and we are set to play an integral role in the World Tour. This organization has put the right pieces together to make 2016 a successful year.”
Clark will ride as a neo-pro for Team TIBCO-SVB next season after strong showings throughout 2015, including the Tour of Battenkill where she finished ahead of the first pro woman. The 29-year-old’s strengths are time trials and climbing.
Myers raced for the team in 2012 and returns for 2016 after graduating with a doctorate in physical therapy.
“I balanced undergraduate and graduate school with racing until my second year of physical therapy school. At that point sacrificing school was not an option,” Myers said. “I am ready to return to my racing career with the goal of once again being a part of a strong and accomplished group of ladies and seeing what we can accomplish together.”
TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank will release a full sponsor list and its 2016 race calendar in December.
