German sprinter Ina Teutenberg to direct Trek Factory Racing women's team
Teutenberg will return to a full-time role in women's cycling
Michelle Arthurs-Brennan August 2, 2018 9:24 am
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg Credit: Image: Trek bikes
German sprinter Ina-Yoko Teutenberg is returning to a full-time role in cycling, as head director at the newly launched Trek Factory Racing women's team.
Teutenberg raced professionally until 2013, retiring after suffering a concussion in a serious crash, that forced her to miss the rest of the season.
The previous year, she took gold in the UCI World Championships Team Time Trial with the decorated TTT roster of Team Specialized–Lululemon in 2012.
A powerhouse with over 200 victories on her record – including 11 stage wins at the Giro Rosa – Teutenberg won the 2009 Tour of Flanders and took bronze at the 2011 UCI Road World Championships.
In her final full year of racing, Teutenberg just missed out on a podium place at the 2012 Olympic road race, behind Olga Zabelinskaya (Russia), Lizzie Deignan (then Armitstead – Great Britain) and winner Marianne Vos (Netherlands).
Image: BettiniPhoto
Teutenberg will now direct the team which Deignan will race for, when she returns to professional cycling after the birth of her first child.
After her retirement from professional cycling, Teutenberg took a temporary directing role, with USA cycling – there she guided the junior women's and men's program in Europe.
Currently, she has a role co-directing the women's Rally Cycling Team in the USA – but the creation of the new Trek Factory Racing women's team allows her to return to a full-time role.
In a press release on Trek's US site, the brand explained: "With women's professional cycling in a continuous fight for equality and respect, having a rider of Teutenberg's stature return in a head director's position is precisely what's needed.
"In the past, opportunities like these have been sparse, and women have had little choice but to go back to careers or families they put on hold, but with the growth of professional women's cycling in the last few years, including the creation of a UCI Women's WorldTour in 2016 and the UCI taking a more interested and active role in women's cycling, the chances for legendary role models like Teutenberg to stay in the sport are on the rise."
It added: "Now with Trek stepping to the plate and adding a women's road team in 2019, the door opened for Teutenberg – women's cycling is on the upswing and Trek is helping bring back the legends of the sport, like Ina Teutenberg, to where they belong."
Teutenberg shared Trek's announcement of her appointment on twitter, commenting "I am thrilled to announce I will be returning to women's cycling full time!"