Finnish champion to join Deignan and Longo Borghini in 2019
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Lotta Lepisto (Cervelo-Bigla Pro Cycling) on the OVO Energy Women's Tour podium after winning the final stage(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lotta Lepisto celebrates her victory(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lotta Lepisto smiles as she realises she's about to win(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lotta Lepisto celebrates her bronze medal on the podium in Qatar
After being active in the intermediate sprints, Lotta Lepistö (Cervélo Bigla) defends the sprinter's jersey at Thüringen Rundfarht 2016 - Stage 3(Image credit: Sean Robinson/Velofocus)
Lotta Lepistö has signed for the new Trek Factory Racing women's team for the 2019 season. The 29-year-old joins the nascent squad after five seasons with Cervélo-Bigla.
Trek confirmed the formation of a new women’s team in July, when they also announced Lizzie Deignan as their first signing. Ina Teutenberg will be head director, while the newly-retired Giorgia Bronzini will be part of the team’s management.
"I am super excited to join the Trek team. I’m looking forward to working with a new team setup," Lepistö said in a statement on Tuesday.
"I’m happy I can work with such a strong squad, especially Ina and Giorgia, they are some of the best sprinters, and I’m eager to learn from them. I want to help the team to be on top and really excited to take on the new challenge."
After taking bronze in the World Championships road race in Doha in 2016, the fast-finishing Lepistö went on to enjoy a fine 2017 campaign, where she claimed victory at Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen and Crescent Vårgårda, as well as a stage win at the Giro Rosa.
This season, Lepistö won a stage of the Ovo Women’s Tour and then claimed a seventh consecutive Finnish road race title in June. Earlier this month, she placed third at Crescent Vårgårda.
"I want to win as many bike races as we can, as a team," Lepistö said of her 2019 objectives. "For me, it would be super cool to win one of the Classics in the spring and have a good race at the World Championships in Yorkshire."
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Lepistö joins Deignan, Elisa Longo Borghini, Ruth Winder and Lauretta Hanson as the latest rider to sign with Trek Factory Racing in 2019. The new squad will share infrastructure with the Trek-Segafredo men’s team.
