Cyclist Ryder Hesjedal will return for his fifth straight racing season with Team Garmin-Cervélo in 2012.
The argyle army, as the team sometimes refers to itself, “had its strongest season in the history of the team in 2011,” said CEO Jonathan Vaughters of Slipstream Sports.
West Shore product Hesjedal was a horse in the 2011 Tour de France, helping teammates Thor Hushovd (Norway) and Tyler Farrar (U.S.) pick up a total of four yellow jerseys, while keeping the team and Hushovd first overall from stages 2 to 9. Hushovd has moved on, but Farrar and Christian Vande Velde (U.S.) return for 2012. Team leaders Vande Velde and Hesjedal finished 17th and 18th in the 2011 Tour.
Also returning to the team for 2012 is Tour de France top-10 Tom Danielson, current U.S. time-trial champion David Zabriskie and David Millar, one of just four British cyclists to have ever worn the Tour’s yellow jersey.
The 2012 UCI sanctioned race calendar begins Jan. 17 to 22 with the Tour Down Under in Adelaide.