Yesterday, was a day to remember for Team Garmin-Sharp cycling fans around the World. We saw two of our riders stand atop the podium, earning stage victories in two major events.

Showing its depth, Team Garmin-Sharp is currently competing in both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of California–where world class cyclists are putting it all on the line for a chance at victory. In Itally, 25-year old Garmin-Sharp rider Ramunas Navardauskas won stage 11 of the Giro d’Italia in a dramatic solo breakaway. We caught up with Navardauskas in a team car as it made its way from his post-stage press conference duties to the team hotel. Narvardauskas recalled that during the final kilometers of the mountainous 182-kilometer stage from Tarvisio to Vajont near the Austrian border he was riding off the front with BMC rider Daniel Oss: “We pulled real hard, almost like teammates,” Navardauskas said of the duo’s effort to separate themselves from a larger break that got established some 80 kilometers into the race. “I
 was riding for 10 or 15 kilometers with him, and I saw that he was not in the best shape when we needed to climb, you know? So in the last seven kilometers, I attacked. I accelerated once. I accelerated twice, and I saw that he was getting gapped. I just did my tempo and he didn’t have the good legs for that.”

Navardauskas added that during those final kilometers he focused not so much on dropping Oss, but going at his own personal limit. “I was trying to go my own speed and I made a small acceleration,” the Lithuanian 
recalled.

With five kilometers remaining that was the burst that cracked Oss and set Navardauskas free for his third grand tour stage win, after having been on Garmin squads that won team time trial stages at the 2011 Tour
de France and 2012 Giro. Navardauskas also won a stage of the Tour of Romandie three weeks ago, said today’s win will be good for team
 morale. “Yesterday was a bad day for us, but today we showed that we are still in good shape and we will keep going. I think we will go for another stage win—we are able to do it,” he said before hopping out of the car and heading in for a well-deserved post-race massage. 

Meanwhile, at the Tour of California, Garmin-Sharp's Tyler Farrar who 
finished third just a day before, found himself in the mix in the closing section of stage 4. The powerful sprint specialist, who seems to be finding his groove, out sprinted the field to take the stage victory and giving Garmin two victories on the day! Temperatures have been off the charts in Southern California, yet as the stage heads north and temps fall, we expect the racing to become much more intense. Be sure to follow along during Friday's time-trial as Garmin's Dave Zabriskie will do his maximum effort for a chance to taste victory himself.

Source: Garmin
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Team Garmin-Sharp Showing It’s World Class

The Amgen Tour of California got underway this past week and world class riders, many whom train and ride in much cooler European climates, were greeted with temperatures well into the 100 degree range. Teams have been going through 150-200 water bottles during the stages to keep their riders hydrated and to keep 
them safe. One team, who ran out of water during stage 1 had to make a stop at a gas station along the course to buy out their water supply. Teams have also been handing ice cold sponges, out car windows, to riders to place in their jerseys– to attempt to regulate body temperatures.

Garmin's Lachlan Morton, using the NEW special edition Edge 510, recorded a max temperature of 111.2 degrees and an average of 102.1 degrees over the 126 mile, 9,000 ft. of elevation gain stage 2. Even in these brutal conditions, Morton managed to average close to 24 mph and had a max speed of 56 mph! (see full stats below)

The boys in argyle are using the special edition Edge for the first time in
California and I'd have to say they look pretty sweet on their Cervelo bikes! Some riders are choosing the standard stem mounts while others like Morton are opting for the out-front-mount.
Action continues in California today and the Team has its eyes set on Friday's time trial, where specialist Dave Zabriskie will look for a stage victory in his home race.

Source: Garmin
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Edge 510 Records Scorching Temps At The Tour Of California

We are right in the middle of an exciting Giro d'Italia, with Team Garmin-Sharp rider and defending champion Ryder Hesjedal sitting in third place overall. The team is focused on working hard for Ryder and helping him, once again, earn the Pink leader's jersey. Tomorrow is the highly anticipated individual time trial, where we will see just how fit the top contenders are.

We have also just learned the roster for next week's Tour of California (May 12-19), where Team Garmin-Sharp will compete in front of a home crowd. The team is highlighted by sprinter Tyler Farrar and time trial expert Dave Zabriskie (see full roster below). During this race, the team will be riding with today's newly released, Special Edition Edge 510. These argyle influenced bike computers, are available for purchase and are perfect for the argyle-armada super fan and riders looking for state-of-the-art cycling technology.

With the new Edge, you can Train smarter and share every detail – all from the road. Edge 510 is a compact,
touchscreen GPS bike computer that tracks advanced performance metrics and offers connected features through your smartphone, including LiveTrack, social network sharing and weather.

Tour of California roster:

Rohan Dennis
Alex Howes
Caleb Fairly
Tyler Farrar
Lachlan Morton
Jacob Rathe
Johan Vansummeren
David Zabriskie

Be sure to follow their race data on the Team Garmin-Sharp Group Page on Garmin Connect http://connect.garmin.com/group/195242 . The Edge 510 special Edition model can be purchased from Team Garmin-Sharp and www.garmin.com.

Source: Garmin
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Show Your Argyle Pride With The Special Edition Edge

Young American Garmin-Sharp rider Peter Stetina is in Italy this month helping Ryder Hesjedal defend his 2012 Giro d’Italia title. After today’s 246-kilometer stage 4, which saw Hesjdal gain enough time to move ahead of Bradley Wiggins in the general classification, 25-year old Stetina said working for the Canadian has been a pleasure so far. “It’s pretty easy supporting Ryder,” Stetina said from a Garmin-Sharp car on its way to the team hotel. “He’s a pretty low-stress personality. And we’ve done so many races together now that I kind of know what he needs and when he needs it. He just needs to raise his hand in the field and we know he wants something and that’s it. It’s good; we’ve got good communication without needing to say too much.” Today’s stage through Italy’s Calabria region turned wet. Stetina, who placed 27^th overall at the 2012 Giro, said “the rain at the end, that got bad.” Commenting on the turn-filled concluding kilometers and the finish itself on slick stone slabs, Stetina said “It got a little dicey. But we stayed in the game today and we are happy. The weather has been so bad this spring that we’ve actually raced in the rain more often than not, so we are pretty used to it at this point!” 

Source: Garmin
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The Domestique’s View: Young American Peter Stetina at the Giro d’Italia

Team Garmin-Sharp will roll out tomorrow morning in the 96th edition of the Giro d'Italia as the defending champions. The squad is headlined by, and built around, defending champion Ryder Hesjedal.

“Winning the Giro d’Italia in 2012 was a dream come true and it will be a true honor to pin on the Number 1 bib on Saturday,” said Hesjedal. “My season has been built around the Giro again this year with the goal of defending my title and the whole team is coming into it very focused and extremely motivated. I want to do my best to honor the race, to honor the Number 1 bib, and take it from there, day by day. I know we have a great team to be able to do that, and we will work hard, every day, with our goal in mind.”

Headlined by Hesjedal, the squad includes Peter Stetina, who finished 22nd overall at the 2012 edition and will again support Hesjedal in the high mountains along with Christian Vande Velde and Tom Danielson, both Tour de France top 10 finishers. Ramunas Navardauskas returns after wearing the Maglia Rosa in 2012 after the squad stormed to victory in the Team Time Trial. He has had a strong start to 2013, recently winning Stage 2 at the Tour of Romandie. Grand Tour veteran David Millar, stage winner at the 2012 Tour de France, will feature in the time trials and will provide support both in the mountains and on the flats. The squad is rounded out by Robbie Hunter, Thomas Dekker, and young Austrialian Nathan Haas who will make his Grand Tour debut at the Giro.

Team Garmin-Sharp 2013 Giro d'Italia Roster

Christian Vande Velde
David Millar
Nathan Haas
Peter Stetina
Ramunas Navardauskas
Robbie Hunter
Ryder Hesjedal
Thomas Dekker
Tom Danielson

“Our team is built around our leader and defending champion, Ryder, and our goal is to do our best race and defend his title,” said Director Charly Wegelius. “We have put together a strong and well-balanced roster, with a focus on climbers to support Ryder in the mountains. The team is very motivated for what we know will be a grueling but beautiful race and we look forward to Saturday’s start.”

“This is a great mix of riders with a lot of depth and talent,” added Jonathan Vaughters, CEO, Slipstream Sports. “Our focus is on defending Ryder’s title. We know there is a lot of hard racing ahead but the team will take it day by day and do our best race.”

Be sure to check out the Team-Garmin Group Page in Garmin Connect for ride data durig the race.

Source: Garmin
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Team Garmin-Sharp: One Goal, One Mission, One Team –Giro 2013

It was another amazing weekend for Team Garmin-Sharp as the argyle armada closed out the Spring Classics the best way possible: Atop the podium. Here's the race report from SlipstreamSports.com, and you can see more race photos and reactions in their online gallery.  

Team Garmin-Sharp played the race perfectly, with Ryder Hesjedal attacking late to set-up Dan Martin who rode a tactically perfect final kilometer for the win.

“Today we had a plan simular to Fleche with Ryder and Dan as our team leaders,” said Sports director Johnny Weltz.

“As a group went off the front early we thought it would suit us well. Several teams picked up the chase but we didn’t want to move too early as the wind in the race today made it less vital and less stressful.

“Once the break was caught very far from the finish the attacks started and we were up there. Michel Kreder brought back a dangerous group and from there it went fast to the second-to-last climb.

“There we had a plan with Ryder to attack; and he certainly did causing a lot of damage! He was on the front with 5 of the strongest riders in the field but they didn’t work with him, so he just attacked them and stayed away to the last 3 km.

“Finally he was joined by a small group of strong riders that Dan was in as well. Dan could sit all the way to the final kilometer and benefit from an amazing ride by Ryder who paved the way for Dan who finished it off with a great sprint.

“The whole team rode fantastic today and Dan thanked them all by taking the win.”

Source: Garmin
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Team Garmin: Dan Martin gets monumental win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège