A jersey from a vintage year for the team that was home to Cavendish, Boasson Hagen and Greipel
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A 2009 team-issue Moa Columbia-Highroad jersey on eBay(Image credit: grawhea31 / eBay)
The label looks as though it used to have a team rider’s name on it; the seller believes that it could read 'Edvald Boasson Hagen'(Image credit: grawhea31 / eBay)
Columbia-Highroad’s Mark Cavendish (right) lunges for the line to beat Cervélo TestTeam’s Heinrich Haussler at the 2009 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Columbia-Highroad’s Mark Cavendish tries to console second-placed Heinrich Haussler on the podium of the 2009 Milan-San Remo, with Haussler’s Cervélo TestTeam teammate Thor Hushovd having taken third(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
The team took a massive 85 race victories during the 2009 season, with 23 of those coming thanks to Cavendish and 20 courtesy of Greipel.
Boasson Hagen contributed with 13 wins, too, which is hardly to be sniffed at, and the UK seller believes that it may be the Norwegian's faded name on the label of the Moa-manufactured jersey, although they can't be sure, and the pictures don't quite show it well enough for a guess on our part, although the medium size of the garment – a chest size of approximately 38"-40" – could well correspond with the now NTT Pro Cycling rider's physique.
During that 2009 season, Boasson Hagen's victories included Gent-Wevelgem and two stages and the overall title at the Tour of Britain in a jersey like this. Other notable wins for the team that year included Greipel's four stage wins at the Vuelta a España and five stage wins for Cavendish at the Tour de France. But arguably the greatest victory of them all in 2009 – in no small part thanks to the way it was won – came at Milan-San Remo that March when Mark Cavendish pipped Cervélo TestTeam's Heinrich Haussler by what is said to have been around just 11 centimetres.
Haussler attacked off the front of the already-speeding bunch with around 250 metres left to go, and looked as though he'd done enough to take what would have been the biggest win of the Australian's career, only for Cavendish to hunt him down and expertly throw his bike on the finish line in San Remo to snatch the win, while Haussler's teammate, Thor Hushovd, was the best of the rest in third.
In a nice ending to the story, however, Haussler and Cavendish are now teammates – and friends – at Bahrain McLaren.
The seller's looking for a very reasonable £59.99 (US$74) for the jersey. And you never know – you might one day be in a position to get it autographed by some of the Columbia-Highroad members of the class of 2009, which would make it a great centrepiece in your turbo-trainer 'pain cave'.
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Columbia-Highroad’s Mark Cavendish tries to console second-placed Heinrich Haussler on the podium of the 2009 Milan-San Remo, with Haussler’s Cervélo TestTeam teammate Thor Hushovd having taken third (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
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