Ina Teutenberg to direct Trek’s women’s road team

With over 200 victories to her name and one of the most decorated and renowned woman cyclists in history, two-time Olympian Ina-Yoko Teutenberg was the perfect choice to direct the new Trek Factory Racing women’s team.

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.

Teutenberg’s palmarès is extensive. She has won stages in the most prestigious women’s races over her career, including a record-setting 21 victories in the Tour de l’Aude, the longest running women’s race on the UCI calendar until its demise in 2010, and 11 stage wins at the Giro d’Italia Femminile. Ina also won the esteemed Philadelphia Liberty Classic four times, the 2009 Tour of Flanders, a bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships and was a member of Specialized-lululemon team time trial squad that won the 2012 World title.

She’s a natural leader and has always been one of the most respected riders in the peloton.  Teutenberg retired in 2013 after suffering a concussion in a serious crash at the Drentse 8 van Dwingeloo that forced her to miss the rest of the season. She felt the time to hang up the wheels had come, even with the less-than-perfect ending to a storied career.

Teutenberg stepped away from the world of competitive cycling for a year to give herself space and time to refind her passion. She returned in 2015 in a temporary directing role with USA Cycling, guiding the junior women’s and men’s program in Europe, and is currently co-directing the women’s Rally Cycling Team in the USA.

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.