View source for HTC–Highroad

{{Short description|Professional road bicycling team (2008–2011)}}
{{For|the women's team|HTC–Highroad Women}}
{{update|date=December 2011}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2011}}
{{Infobox cycling team
| name=HTC–Highroad
| image=[[File:HTC-Highroad logo.svg|180px]]
| code= THR
| registered= USA
| founded= {{start date|1989}}
| disbanded= {{end date|2011}}
| generalmanager=[[Bob Stapleton]]
| discipline=Road
| status= [[UCI ProTeam]]
| bicycles=[[Specialized Bicycle Components|Specialized]]
| season=1989<br/>1990<br/>1991–2003<br/>2004–2007<br/>2007–2008<br/>2008<br/>2009<br/><br/>2010<br/>2011
| oldname=Stuttgart-Merckx-Gonsor<br/>Stuttgart-Mercedes-Merckx-Puma<br/>Team Telekom<br/>T-Mobile Team<br/>Team High Road<br/>Team Columbia<br />Team Columbia–High Road<br/>Team Columbia–HTC<br/>Team HTC–Columbia<br/>HTC–Highroad
| kitimage= Team HTC-High Road Jersey 2011.gif
}}
'''HTC–Highroad''' ({{UCI code|THR}}) was a former professional [[cycling team]] competing in international [[road bicycle race]]s. Their last title sponsor was [[HTC|HTC Corporation]], a Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones but dissolved at the end of the 2011 season from a failure to find a new sponsor.<ref name="fold">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cycling/14412813.stm |title=Mark Cavendish's cycling team HTC–Highroad set to fold |publisher=BBC Sport  |date=August 4, 2011 }}</ref> High Road Sports was the management company of team manager [[Bob Stapleton]]. Past title sponsors include [[Columbia Sportswear]] and [[Deutsche Telekom]].

The team was founded in 1991 as '''Team Telekom''', sponsored by Deutsche Telekom. In 2004 their name changed to the '''T-Mobile Team'''. The team was under the management of [[Bob Stapleton]] and [[Rolf Aldag]]. Former leaders included [[Olaf Ludwig]], [[Walter Godefroot]] and Eddy Vandenhecke (managers), Luuc Eisenga (spokesperson) and [[Brian Holm]], Valerio Piva (sports directors).

==History==

===Team beginnings: 1988–1991===
At the end of 1988, former World Champion [[Hennie Kuiper]] set up a German [[cycling team]] that was sponsored by the city of [[Stuttgart]] and rode on [[Eddy Merckx Cycles]]. The team was called ''Stuttgart-Merckx-Gonsor'' for the 1989 season and had nine riders (which included [[Udo Bölts]]). At that time when there were no German cycling teams and the country's main cycling event, the [[Rund um den Henninger Turm]] had not been won by a German since Rudi Altig in 1970. During its first year of existence team rider [[Dariusc Kajzer]] brought the team its first success in the National Road Race Championships in Germany. The team became ''Stuttgart-Mercedes-Merckx-Puma'' in 1990 and Bölts continued the success of the team by becoming road race champion of Germany.

===Team Telekom: 1991–2004 ===
[[Deutsche Telekom]] came in as the main sponsor in 1991 and the team was known as ''Telekom-Mercedes-Merckx-Puma''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/13731.0.html|title=Inside Cycling: A 20-year dynasty comes to an end|work=Velonews.com|access-date=December 11, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071130131619/http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/13731.0.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = November 30, 2007}}</ref> According to an interview with Godefroot, it was Bölts’ 17th place at the [[1991 Vuelta a España]] that prompted him to accept the Telekom management's offer to take over the running of the team. Godefroot signed several riders including Classics specialist and 1991 [[Paris–Roubaix]] winner [[Marc Madiot]]. Bölts who was involved with the team since its beginnings in 1989 would stay with the team until 2003, continued building on the successes of the team by winning stage 19, the Queen stage of the [[1992 Giro d'Italia]]. Jens Heppner continued this streak with his overall tenth place at the [[1992 Tour de France]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=10112|title=Walter Godefroot-Astana 2007|access-date=December 11, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322063459/http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=10112|archive-date=March 22, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Telekom team signed all the promising cyclists that were coming from Germany at that time and who were becoming successful. These included [[Jens Heppner]] and [[Christian Henn]] in 1992, [[Erik Zabel]], [[Rolf Aldag]] and [[Steffen Wesemann]] in 1993 and [[Jan Ullrich]] in 1994. Many of these riders would ride for more than ten years with the team. [[Olaf Ludwig]] also signed in 1993 and finished his career with the team. In 1994, Zabel won the first [[UCI Road World Cup]] victory in the history of the team, the [[Paris–Tours]].

In 1993, the team again achieved success in the national championship road race in Germany. This was the start of the team's 11 year domination and possession of the German champion's jersey. Many of the successful team riders that spent many years of their career with Telekom would become German national champions – Bernd Gröne in 1993, Jens Heppner in 1994, Bölts in 1990, 1995 and 1999, Christian Henn in 1996, Jan Ullrich in 1997 and 2001, Erik Zabel in 1998 and 2003, Rolf Aldag in 2000, Danilo Hondo in 2002 and finally Andreas Klöden in 2004.
[[File:Image-1Tdf-1996-123.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bjarne Riis]] (centre) and [[Jan Ullrich]] (left) on the podium at the [[1996 Tour de France]]]]
The team soon became an important presence on the international cycling stage. However the team was not invited to the [[1995 Tour de France]]. Eventually the organisers of the Tour agreed that six Telekom members, namely Rolf Aldag, Udo Bölts, Jens Heppner, Vladimir Pulnikov, Erik Zabel and Olaf Ludwig would join with three members of the ZG Mobili to form a composite team. Zabel went on to win two stages in the race.

The next two years saw the international breakthrough of the team. Godefroot brought in the [[Denmark|Danish]] rider, [[Bjarne Riis]], the third-place finisher of the 1995 Tour and he went on to win the [[1996 Tour de France]], with the then 22-year-old German support rider [[Jan Ullrich]] finishing in second place. In addition, Zabel won the first of six green jerseys for winning the points competition. Bolts won the Clásica de San Sebastián and Wesemann won his second and the first of four wins with the Telekom team of the [[Peace Race]].
[[File:Jan Ullrich and Udo Bölts, 1997.jpg|right|thumb|1997 Tour: [[Jan Ullrich]] in the leader's jersey, with [[Udo Bölts]] riding in support.]]
The [[1997 Tour de France]] saw the emergence of Ullrich as he won the race with support from Riis, who in turn had won the World Cup race, [[Amstel Gold Race (men's race)|Amstel Gold Race]] earlier in 1997. Team Telekom also won the team classification, as the overall strongest team of the 1997 Tour. In addition, Bolts won the [[Critérium du Dauphiné|Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré]], Zabel won [[Milan–San Remo]] for the first of four times with the team. Ullrich also won the Championships of Hamburg semi-classic. The following year this race was elevated to the status of World Cup. In addition the Deutschland Tour returned in 1999 – evidence of the continuing popularity of cycling in Germany at the time. While Ullrich had a crash in the race and was forced to retire, Team Telekom did win the first edition of the race with Heppner and would win the race again with [[Alexander Vinokourov]] in 2001.

Ullrich finished second in the [[1998 Tour de France]] but went on to win the 1999 [[Vuelta a España]], although he missed the [[1999 Tour de France]] due to a knee injury. After winning the Vuelta, Ullrich became World time trial champion which enabled him to wear the rainbow jersey during time trials. He would win this again in 2001. The next year, Zabel won the overall World Cup victory, having won the Milan–San Remo and Amstel Gold Race, while Ullrich was placed second again in the [[2000 Tour de France]] to [[Lance Armstrong]]. Ullrich won the gold medal in the Olympic road race and the silver medal in the Olympic time trial. In 2001, Zabel won Milan–San Remo for the fourth time. Ullrich came in second in the [[2001 Tour de France]], while Zabel won six stages combined in the 2001 Tour and Vuelta. [[Kazakhstan|Kazakh]] rider [[Alexander Vinokourov]] won the [[Paris–Nice]] stage race in 2002, a feat he would duplicate in 2003, also winning the Amstel Gold Race and [[Tour de Suisse]] that year. As Ullrich left the team to form [[Team Bianchi]] in 2003, Vinokourov became team leader for the [[2003 Tour de France]]. He finished in third place, just below the second placed Ullrich. Zabel won the 2003 Paris–Tours, while Italian rider [[Daniele Nardello]] took the [[Züri-Metzgete]].

The team had a continuous presence at the top of the professional peloton and continued to sign the emerging German cyclists of the times including [[Andreas Klöden]] in 1998, [[Jörg Jaksche]] in 1999, Matthias Kessler in 2000 and Stefan Schumacher in 2002. In addition, the team also signed many successful non-German riders such as [[Georg Totschnig]], [[Alexander Vinokourov]], [[Cadel Evans]], [[Santiago Botero]] and [[Paolo Savoldelli]].

In 2005 a film titled ''[[Hell on Wheels (2004 film)|Hell on Wheels]]'' was released. It is a record of the 100th anniversary (but only the 90th running because of World War I and World War II) of the 2003 Tour de France in from the perspective of the then-Team Telekom.<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/news/Film/Blood-sweat-and-gears/2005/05/26/1116950807781.html?oneclick=true Blood, sweat and gears], ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', May 27, 2005</ref>

===T-Mobile: 2004 – November 2007===
[[File:T-Mobile team TDF 2004.jpg|thumb|300px|T-Mobile-Team, 2004 Tour de France]]
From 2004, the team changed its name to [[T-Mobile International AG|T-Mobile]]. Jan Ullrich returned to the team. The team achieved a great number of success, among which was [[Steffen Wesemann]]'s win in the [[Tour of Flanders (men's race)|Tour of Flanders]]. Coming up to the [[2004 Tour de France]], Kloden became German road race champion and Ullrich won the [[Tour de Suisse]] and raced the [[2004 Tour de France]] as team leader, while Vinokourov did not ride the Tour de France for the team. Jan Ullrich finished fourth, while [[Andreas Klöden]] was the best placed rider of the team in second place. T-Mobile Team won the team classification, as the overall strongest team of the 2004 Tour. In the spring season of 2005, Vinokourov won the [[Liège–Bastogne–Liège]] classic race. Ullrich, as the team leader, finished 3rd overall in the [[2005 Tour de France]]. Alexander Vinokourov rode in support, and finished fifth as he won two stages, including the final stage on the [[Champs-Élysées]]. Italian rider [[Giuseppe Guerini]] also won a stage and T-Mobile Team matched their 2004 feat by once again winning the team classification in 2005. Zabel won the [[Paris–Tours]] for the third time at the end of the season.

In July 2005, during the 2005 Tour, Vinokourov's contract was running out and speculation was abundant if he was to stay with T-Mobile. With four days left of the 2005 Tour, he made an announcement that he would leave the team to pursue his own chances of winning the Tour de France as a team captain<ref>[http://www.t-mobile-team.com/cms/tmoteam/en/archive/news/templateId=renderInternalPage/yearID=2005/monthID=6/itemID=65910/id=41212.html Vinokourov leaves T-Mobile Team], ''T-Mobile-Team.com'', July 20, 2005</ref> and after the Tour he joined the [[Liberty Seguros–Würth team|Liberty Seguros]] team.<ref>[http://www.t-mobile-team.com/cms/tmoteam/en/archive/news/templateId=renderInternalPage/yearID=2005/monthID=6/itemID=67194/id=41212.html Vinokourov to Liberty Seguros], ''T-Mobile-Team.com'', July 26, 2005</ref> After 13 years with Team Telekom and T-Mobile Team, Erik Zabel also left in 2005 to ride for the newly formed [[Team Milram]].<ref>[http://www.t-mobile-team.com/cms/tmoteam/en/archive/news/templateId=renderInternalPage/yearID=2005/monthID=9/itemID=74116/id=41212.html Zabel and Petacchi team up for Milram], ''T-Mobile-Team.com'', September 23, 2005</ref> Before the 2006 season, Walter Godefroot stepped down and Olaf Ludwig became the new T-Mobile team manager.

===Doping scandals: 2006–2007 ===
In the most controversial scandal since the [[1998 Tour de France|1998 tour]], thirteen riders were expelled from the [[2006 Tour de France]] stemming from [[Operación Puerto doping case|a Spanish doping scandal]], on the eve of Strasbourg prologue to the 93rd edition. Jan Ullrich, one of the favorites to win the race, was among those excluded from the Tour. Another T-Mobile rider, [[Óscar Sevilla]], was also expelled, leaving the team starting with only seven riders.

On July 9, the team announced the dismissal of its sporting director, Rudy Pevenage, for his implication with former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich in a Spanish [[blood doping]] scandal.  "The contract linking T-Mobile to Pevenage has been retrospectively stopped on June 30", the team's general manager, Olaf Ludwig, said.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/5163384.stm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720144655/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/5163384.stm|date=July 20, 2006}}</ref>

On July 21, 2006, T-Mobile fired Jan Ullrich from the team pending the doping investigation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SPORT/07/21/cycling.ullrich|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070325110447/http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SPORT/07/21/cycling.ullrich/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 25, 2007|title=CNN.com - Ullrich dismissed by T-Mobile team - Jul 21, 2006|website=CNN|access-date=March 30, 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Serhiy Honchar - prolog TdF 2006.jpg|left|thumb|200px|[[Serhiy Honchar]] riding the [[2006 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11|Prologue]] at the [[2006 Tour de France]]]]
At the [[2006 Tour de France]], T-Mobile won the team classification for the third consecutive year, [[Andreas Klöden]] reached the podium (3rd place) for the second time, [[Matthias Kessler]] won Stage 3, [[Serhiy Honchar]] won two [[individual time trial]]s (Stages 7 and 19) and wore the [[yellow jersey]] for 3 days (after Stages 7–9).

After the Tour de France, the team changed significantly; team manager, [[Olaf Ludwig]] left the team and was replaced by [[Bob Stapleton]]. [[Rolf Aldag]], [[Allan Peiper]] and [[Tristan Hoffman]] became ''directeur sportifs''. As already discussed Ullrich, Sevilla and Pevenage were dismissed from the team. Several riders who had been with the team for a long time such as [[Steffen Wesemann]], [[Andreas Klöden]] and [[Matthias Kessler]] left. However, the reason is unclear. Jörg Ludewig was put on suspension and his contract was not increased in connection with intention to dope previously in his career and before he joined T-Mobile. [[Eddy Mazzoleni]] who was in his first year for the team also left. The contracts of Bram Schmitz and Bas Giling were not renewed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=features/2006/t-mobile_future|title=T-Mobile's new beginning – but with whom?|publisher=Cyclingnews.com|access-date=May 5, 2008}}</ref> Dr. Lothar Heinrich, the team doctor since 1995, and Dr. Andreas Schmid set up a new comprehensive testing system. Following the revelations that came out of the Operación Puerto investigation, Heinrich allegedly nearly quit the sport but instead he joined with Stapleton and other team staff to create a new system of internal controls and health checks that he insisted would demonstrate that T-Mobile riders were clean and to restore credibility to the sport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.velonews.com/article/11681|title=The Sunday Interview: T-Mobile's Dr. Lothar Heinrich|work=Velonews.com|access-date=May 5, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329134611/http://www.velonews.com/article/11681|archive-date=March 29, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In May 2007, several former riders admitted to using banned substances (including [[Erythropoietin|EPO]]) while riding for the team in the mid-1990s, including [[Erik Zabel]], [[Rolf Aldag]], [[Brian Holm]],<ref>{{cite web
 | title =Brian Holm also admits EPO doping | work=Cyclingnews.com | date =May 25, 2007 | url =http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/may07/may25news2
 | access-date =May 28, 2007}}</ref> [[Bjarne Riis]],<ref>{{cite web
 | title =Former Tour de France winner Riis admits doping
 | work=Cyclingnews.com
 | date =May 25, 2007
 | url =http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/may07/may26news
 | access-date =May 28, 2007}}</ref> Bert Dietz, [[Udo Bölts]] and [[Christian Henn]] including the seasons in which Riis and Ullrich won the Tour de France.<ref>{{cite news | last =Starcevic | first =Nesha | title =Two more former Telekom riders admit to doping | agency =Associated Press | date =May 24, 2007 | url =https://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news;_ylt=AqmFvq1S49.Q8FxHCAQQP8N.grcF?slug=ap-germany-doping&prov=ap&type=lgns | access-date =May 24, 2007 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Team doctors Andreas Schmid and Lothar Heinrich also confessed to participating and administering banned substances. The latter was Team Telekom's sporting director until May 3, 2007, when he was suspended following allegations published in former team member Jef d'Hont's book.<ref>{{cite web  | author =Nesha | title =Heinrich follows Schmid's confession | work=Cyclingnews.com | date =May 24, 2007 | url =http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/may07/may24news2 | access-date =May 25, 2007}}</ref> Jef d'Hont had worked as a massage therapist for Team Telekom in 1992–96, and revealed in his book how the doping system had been organized at the team, throughout those years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/27/AR2007052700380.html|title=Report: Masseur Gave Ullrich EPO Shot|newspaper=Washington Post|agency=Associated Press|date=27 May 2007|access-date=12 August 2013}}</ref>

In an effort to present a renewed image the team brought a young team to the [[2007 Tour de France]], and promoted a drug-free attitude and image. Despite this, team member [[Patrik Sinkewitz]] tested positive for elevated testosterone during a training camp.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telekom.de/start|title=Telekom – Mobilfunk, LTE, Festnetz und DSL Angebote|website=www.telekom.de}}</ref>  The test results were only announced when Sinkewitz had dropped out of the Tour because of injury. He was still in hospital when he was suspended from Team T-Mobile, and was dismissed on July 31, 2007.

=== Team High Road: November 2007 – June 2008 ===

In November 2007, Deutsche Telekom AG announced that it was to end sponsorship of professional cycling with immediate effect. The team continued under the name "Team High Road" through June 2008.<ref>{{cite news
  | title = T-Mobile ends cycling sponsorship
  |publisher=BBC Sport 
  | date = November 27, 2007
  | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/7115547.stm
  | access-date =December 6, 2007}}
</ref> The team changed nationality in February 2008, switching from Germany to the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=Press release : UCI ProTour Council meets in Geneva |url=http://www.uciprotour.com/Modules/ENews/ENewsDetails.asp?id=NTU0MA&MenuId=MTY5Mw&BackLink=%2FTemplates%2FUCI%2FUCI5%2Flayout%2Easp%3FMenuID%3DMTY5Mw |publisher=UCI |work=uciprotour.com |date=February 4, 2008 |access-date=February 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323043344/http://www.uciprotour.com/Modules/ENews/ENewsDetails.asp?id=NTU0MA&MenuId=MTY5Mw&BackLink=%2FTemplates%2FUCI%2FUCI5%2Flayout.asp%3FMenuID=MTY5Mw |archive-date=March 23, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The team continued due to the funding from the team owner, Bob Stapleton, as the team did not have enough time to gather sponsors for the new year. The team had a successful start to the year with Luxembourg rider, [[Kim Kirchen]] winning the classic La Flèche Wallonne. Results like this and also High-Road's performance at the [[Giro d'Italia]] helped the team secure a sponsor for the end of the year.

=== Team Columbia and Team Columbia–High Road: July 2008 – June 2009 ===
On June 15, 2008 [[Columbia Sportswear]] announced a three-year sponsorship of the team beginning on July 5, the start of the [[2008 Tour de France|Tour de France]], changing the name to "Team Columbia". The sponsorship included both the men's and women's teams.<ref>{{cite press release  | title = Columbia Sportswear Announces Sponsorship  | publisher = Team Columbia & High Road Sports, Inc  | date = June 15, 2008  | url = http://www.highroadsports.com/news/173-Columbia-Sportswear-Company-and-High-Road-Sports-Announce-New-Team-Columbia-to-Debut-at-2008-Tour-de-France  | access-date = June 17, 2008  | url-status = dead  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080620054345/http://www.highroadsports.com/news/173-Columbia-Sportswear-Company-and-High-Road-Sports-Announce-New-Team-Columbia-to-Debut-at-2008-Tour-de-France  | archive-date = June 20, 2008  | df = mdy-all  }}</ref> The team went on to have a highly successful Tour, winning 5 stages (four of which went to British sprinter [[Mark Cavendish]]) and team leader [[Kim Kirchen]] lead the [[general classification in the Tour de France|overall classification]] for four days and the [[points classification in the Tour de France|points competition]] for three.

=== Team Columbia–HTC: June 2009 – January 2010 and Team HTC–Columbia: January 2010 – 2011===
{{main|2010 Team HTC–Columbia season|2011 HTC–Highroad season}}
[[File:Etape 3 tour de France 2009 - Peloton 4 by Mikani Edit.JPG|thumb|right|upright|[[George Hincapie]] and [[Mark Cavendish]] in the [[green jersey]] during [[2009 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11#Stage 3|Stage 3]] of the [[2009 Tour de France]]]]
On June 29, 2009 [[HTC Corporation|HTC]] announced a three-year sponsorship of the team beginning with the 2009 [[Tour de France]].<ref>{{cite press release | title = High Road Sports and HTC Announce Partnership to Debut at 2009 Tour de France | publisher = High Road Sports, Inc. | date = June 29, 2009 | url = http://www.highroadsports.com/news/400-High-Road-Sports-and-HTC-Announce-Partnership-to-Debut-at-2009-Tour-de-France | access-date = June 29, 2009 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101117125324/http://highroadsports.com/news/400-High-Road-Sports-and-HTC-Announce-Partnership-to-Debut-at-2009-Tour-de-France | archive-date = November 17, 2010 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> The team's new name was "Team Columbia–HTC." Like the [[Columbia Sportswear]] sponsorship, the HTC sponsorship included both the men's and women's teams. The team enjoyed great success at the [[2009 Tour de France]] with [[Mark Cavendish]] winning 6 stages over the course of the 3 weeks. The most memorable of these was his victory on the [[Champs-Élysées]] in Paris where he won by a huge margin; almost 30m, with his own lead out man, [[Mark Renshaw]] having enough time to come in 2nd with his arms raised. A documentary film called ''[[Chasing Legends]]'' was later released that covered the 2009 tour through the eyes of HTC–Columbia.

August proved a very good month for Norwegian all-rounder [[Edvald Boasson Hagen]], with two stage wins and a podium finish in the [[2009 Tour de Pologne|Tour of Poland]] and two more stage wins and the GC win in the [[2009 Eneco Tour|Eneco Tour]]. After stage wins in the other two Grand Tours of 2009, it took the team only three days to win yet another in the [[2009 Vuelta a España|Vuelta]], where [[Gregory Henderson]] took home the flowers.

Despite its many successes, Team Columbia did not seem to be able to afford as many top riders as they had, and due to their many victories, a lot of riders were targeted by other teams for the 2010 season. Notable riders such as [[Kim Kirchen]], [[Edvald Boasson Hagen]], [[Michael Barry (cyclist)|Michael Barry]], [[George Hincapie]] and [[Thomas Lövkvist]] elected to leave the team. As replacements, a lot of young talented riders, such as [[Jan Ghyselinck]], Rasmus Guldhammer and [[Martin Velits|Martin]] and [[Peter Velits]] were contracted.

On October 17, 2010, Team Columbia HTC announced a tie up with [[Specialized Bicycle Components|Specialized]] for 2011. Specialized would supply the team's frames, forks, and helmets. The men would race the S-Works Tarmac for most road races, the S-Works Roubaix for cobbled classics, and the Shiv TT in time trials. The all-new S-Works Prevail and TT3 helmets would protect the riders in road and TT applications, respectively.<ref>{{cite press release | title = Specialized and High Road Sports Join Forces | publisher = Specialized Bicycle Components | date = October 17, 2010 | url = http://www.specialized.com/gb/en/bc/SBCWhatsNewDetail.jsp?article=8685&refp=USHome&menuItemId=0&articleType=CompanyNews&gold_ses= | access-date = October 17, 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

On August 4, 2011, General Manager, Bob Stapleton announced that Team HTC–Highroad were to fold at the end of the [[2011 HTC–Highroad season|2011 season]] after failing to find a new sponsor.<ref name="fold" />

The team's final event was the [[Chrono des Nations]], in October 2011. The men's and women's teams both finished with victories, Tony Martin winning the men's 48&nbsp;km time trial, while Amber Neben won the women's 20&nbsp;km event. This gave the team 121 victories in its final year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highroadsports.com/news/867-Neben-and-Martin-Win-Chrono-des-Nations |title=Neben and Martin Win Chrono des Nations – Team High Road Sports |publisher=Highroadsports.com |date=2011-10-16 |access-date=2012-07-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725065142/http://www.highroadsports.com/news/867-Neben-and-Martin-Win-Chrono-des-Nations |archive-date=July 25, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

HTC–Highroad was voted 2011 Team of the Year by Cyclingnews.com,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highroadsports.com/news/868-Highroad-voted-Team-of-the-Year-by-Readers-of-Cyclingnews |title=Highroad voted Team of the Year by Readers of Cyclingnews – Team High Road Sports |publisher=Highroadsports.com |date=2011-12-09 |access-date=2012-07-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725065147/http://www.highroadsports.com/news/868-Highroad-voted-Team-of-the-Year-by-Readers-of-Cyclingnews |archive-date=July 25, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> and won the Best Team and Best Women's Team awards at the Velonews awards for 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highroadsports.com/news/869-HTC-Highroad-Sweeps-Velonews-Awards |title=HTC–Highroad Sweeps Velonews Awards – Team High Road Sports |publisher=Highroadsports.com |date=2011-12-28 |access-date=2012-07-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725061944/http://www.highroadsports.com/news/869-HTC-Highroad-Sweeps-Velonews-Awards |archive-date=July 25, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

==Major wins==
{{main|List of wins by Team Deutsche Telekom and its successors}}

== National, continental, world and Olympic champions ==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
;1989
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Road Race, [[Dariusz Kajzer]]
;1990
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Road Race, [[Udo Bölts]]
;1994
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Road Race, [[Jens Heppner]]
;1995
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Road Race, [[Udo Bölts]]
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Time Trial, [[Jan Ullrich]]
;1996
: [[File:MaillotDinamarca.svg|20px]] Danish Road Race, [[Bjarne Riis]]
: [[File:MaillotDinamarca.svg|20px]] Danish Time Trial, [[Bjarne Riis]]
;1997
: [[File:MaillotAustria.PNG|20px]] Austrian Road Race, [[Georg Totschnig]]
: [[File:MaillotAustria.PNG|20px]] Austrian Time Trial, [[Georg Totschnig]]
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Road Race, [[Jan Ullrich]]
;1998
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Road Race, [[Erik Zabel]]
;1999 
: [[File:Jersey rainbow.svg|20px]] UCI World Champion Time Trial, [[Jan Ullrich]]
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Road Race, [[Udo Bölts]]
;2000
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Road Race, [[Rolf Aldag]]
;2001
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Road Race, [[Jan Ullrich]]
: [[File:Jersey rainbow.svg|20px]] UCI World Champion Time Trial, [[Jan Ullrich]]
: [[File:MaillotKaz.PNG|20px]] Kazakhstan Road Race, [[Andrey Mizurov]]
;2002
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Road Race, [[Danilo Hondo]]
;2003
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Road Race, [[Erik Zabel]]
;2004
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Road Race, [[Andreas Klöden]]
;2005
: [[File:MaillotKaz.PNG|20px]] Kazakhstan Road Race, [[Alexander Vinokourov]]
: [[File:MaillotRusia.PNG|20px]] Russian Road Race, [[Sergei Ivanov (cyclist)|Sergei Ivanov]]
;2006
: [[File:MaillotAustria.PNG|20px]] Austrian Road Race, [[Bernhard Kohl]]
;2007
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Time Trial, [[Bert Grabsch]]
: [[File:Jersey italianflag.svg|20px]] Italian Time Trial, [[Marco Pinotti]]
;2008
: [[File:MaillotAustralia.PNG|20px]] Australian Time Trial, [[Adam Hansen]]
: [[File:MaillotNoruega.PNG|20px]] Norwegian Time Trial, [[Edvald Boasson Hagen]]
: [[File:MaillotLuxemburgo.PNG|20px]] Luxembourg Time Trial, [[Kim Kirchen]]
: [[File:Jersey italianflag.svg|20px]] Italian Time Trial, [[Marco Pinotti]]
: [[File:MaillotRepúblicaCheca.PNG|20px]] Czech Time Trial, [[František Raboň]]
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Time Trial, [[Bert Grabsch]]
: [[File:Jersey rainbow.svg|20px]] UCI World Champion Time Trial, [[Bert Grabsch]]
;2009
: [[File:MaillotAustralia.PNG|20px]] Australian Time Trial, [[Michael Rogers (cyclist)|Michael Rogers]]
: [[File:Jersey italianflag.svg|20px]] Italian Time Trial, [[Marco Pinotti]]
: [[File:MaillotNoruega.PNG|20px]] Norwegian Time Trial, [[Edvald Boasson Hagen]]
: [[File:MaillotRepúblicaCheca.PNG|20px]] Czech Time Trial, [[František Raboň]]
: [[File:MaillotLuxemburgo.PNG|20px]] Luxembourg Time Trial, [[Kim Kirchen]]
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Time Trial, [[Bert Grabsch]]
: [[File:Jersey belgianflag.svg|20px]] Belgian Time Trial, [[Maxime Monfort]]
: [[File:MaillotUSA.PNG|20px]] US Road Race, [[George Hincapie]]
;2010
: [[File:MaillotBielorrusia.PNG|20px]] Belarusian Time Trial, [[Kanstantsin Sivtsov]]
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Time Trial, [[Tony Martin (cyclist)|Tony Martin]]
: [[File:Jersey italianflag.svg|20px]] Italian Time Trial, [[Marco Pinotti]]
: [[File:MaillotLetonia.PNG|20px]] Latvian Road Race, [[Aleksejs Saramotins]]
: [[File:MaillotSlovakia.svg|20px]] Slovak Time Trial, [[Martin Velits]]
;2011
: [[File:MaillotNuevaZelanda.PNG|20px]] New Zealand Road Race, [[Hayden Roulston]]
: [[File:MaillotBielorrusia.PNG|20px]] Belarusian Time Trial, [[Kanstantsin Sivtsov]]
: [[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Time Trial, [[Bert Grabsch]]
: [[File:MaillotIrlanda.PNG|20px]] Irish Road Race, [[Matthew Brammeier]]
: [[File:MaillotIrlanda.PNG|20px]] Irish Time Trial, [[Matthew Brammeier]]
: [[File:MaillotLetonia.PNG|20px]] Latvian Time Trial, [[Gatis Smukulis]]
: [[File:Jersey rainbow.svg|20px]] UCI World Road Race, [[Mark Cavendish]]
{{div col end}}

==Riders==
{{main|List of HTC–Highroad riders}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category multi|Team HTC–Columbia|T-Mobile Team}}
* {{official website}}
* [http://www.uciprotour.com/Modules/SUCI/TEAMS/TeamDetails.asp?id=MTQ UCI Protour: Team profile of HTC-Highroad]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{UCI WorldTeams}}
{{Tour de France team classification winners}}
{{Giro d'Italia team classification winners}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:HTC-Highroad}}
[[Category:HTC–Highroad| ]]
[[Category:Cycling teams based in the United States]]
[[Category:Cycling teams based in Germany]]
[[Category:Defunct cycling teams based in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct cycling teams based in Germany]]
[[Category:Former UCI WorldTeams]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf]]
[[Category:Cycling teams established in 1991]]
[[Category:Cycling teams disestablished in 2011]]
[[Category:1989 establishments in Germany]]
[[Category:2011 disestablishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Deutsche Telekom]]
[[Category:HTC Corporation]]