After a superb debut pro season, American rider Evelyn Stevens has been rewarded with a renewed contract with the HTC-Highroad team. The 27 year old worked as a Wall Street broker before joining the squad at the end of last year, having mixed her job with some part-time racing with the Webcor and Lipsmacker squads. She faced a real challenge to move up a level at a relatively late age, but thrived.
"The team took an enormous risk in signing me, but this has been an incredible year for me,” she said, proud after performances such as a stage win in the women’s Giro, victory in the national time trial championships and fifth in the women’s World Cup event at the GP de Plouay.
“I knew it would be challenging, and it's been a lot of hard work, but I've made the right decision. There were a lot of high points in the year, but maybe the highest was the Giro di Toscana this autumn, which was an awesome team experience all around.
“My aims for 2011 are simple: to use what I've learned in 2010 to raise the bar on what I've already achieved, and to be the best team-mate possible.”
Stevens has been working closely with team directeur sportif Ronny Lauke. He has no doubts about her ability. “Evelyn had a really impressive rookie pro year,” he enthused. “She's won five races, including a stage of the Tour of Italy and the American National Time Trial title, and showed great consistency by finishing inside the top 25 of the UCI rankings for 2010.”
However it’s not just her riding ability which he values, but so too her mental approach and positive attitude. That is also a reason why she has been handed a two year deal.
"The way Evelyn approaches cycling, too, is inspiring for our other riders,” he explained. “Rather than see the pain and suffering sometimes involved in road racing, she'd rather see all of the advantages. We're thrilled she's continuing with HTC-Highroad.”