Winder, Hanson to join Trek’s Women’s team

American Ruth Winder, 25, and Australian Lauretta Hanson, 23, have signed with Trek’s Women’s team for 2019, boosting the new squad with two impending young talents. Ruth will join the new team after racing one season in Europe with Team Sunweb, and Lauretta arrives from the USA-based UnitedHealthcare team.

Ruth Winder began racing when she was 15, taking an unexpected win in the 2009 junior road national championships, but her focus over the next years was in track cycling. After joining UnitedHealthcare for the 2014-2015 seasons, she returned to the track full-time in 2016 with the US National endurance track program and made the Rio Olympic team.

When Ruth was not selected to race the team pursuit final that battled for gold with Great Britain, she turned her disappointment into a breakthrough 2017 road season. She won two of the most prominent American stage races in the Redlands Bicycle Classic and Joe Martin Stage Race and while racing abroad, claimed two stages and the overall in the Czech Republic at the Tour de Feminin, finished second in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, and second overall in the Lotto Belisol Belgium Tour.

2018 has been the first full European season for Ruth, and she has risen to the new challenge by capturing her most significant victory to date: winning stage five in the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile and with it donning the coveted maglia rosa.

Ruth Winder: “I’m really excited to be joining the new Trek program! As soon as I heard about the team, I was interested, and after talking with Trek, it sounded like a great fit. Not just with the athletic program that is being built, but also as an American working with such a loved American brand.

 “I’ve spent a really good year in Europe learning a lot about the races and [positioning in the] peloton. I feel fully ready to take that into next year with what’s going to be a really strong team. Along with Lizzie (Deignan), I was actually born in Yorkshire, and I am really looking to the 2019 World Championships there. The upcoming year is full of goals to get there, and I’m excited to see what we will achieve.”

Lauretta Hanson is currently racing for UnitedHealthcare (UHC) after joining the US-based powerhouse team in 2017.  Lauretta is a strong all-rounder with a big engine and has embraced her role in supporting her teammates on UHC.

While Lauretta is still developing and building her palmarès, she already has shown sparks. In 2016, while racing with the Australian National Team, Lauretta finished 10th overall in the Ladies Tour of Qatar against a star-studded field. A third place in stage three proved she could battle amongst a top-class European peloton in the demanding conditions of Qatar.

This past July she took a surprise victory in the stage three time trial at the Tour de Feminin (Czech Republic) and went on to finish second in stage four the next day. While helping her teammate win the overall, Lauretta still managed seventh place in the GC. These results may have been surprising for her but were only a matter of time.

With cycling opportunities limited in Australia, Lauretta has opted to race in the USA for the last six years and now is looking to make the next step to Europe with Trek.

Lauretta Hanson: “I am really excited to be joining Trek in 2019. I have raced in America for the past six years, but I was looking to make the transition to Europe. When I was approached by Trek, I knew it would be the perfect environment for me to learn and grow.

 Trek has put together a program with fantastic support and a world-class roster filled with experience and strength. I have idolized a lot of these women throughout my career, and I am looking forward to racing alongside them, and under their guidance.”