Andre Greipel' win in Thursday’s stage at the Eneco Tour was a milestone for HTC-Columbia. The victory gave the U.S.-registered team its 50th victory on the 2010 season, an impressive number made even more remarkable considering the victories have come from 15 different riders.

“It’s a difficult feat to be successful year after year, and it always impresses me that the boys continue to work so hard and achieve so much as a team,” said team manager Rolf Aldag in a release.

With so many wins, it’s no surprise that HTC-Columbia is also leading the team rankings. On the “Cycling Quotient” rankings system, which mimics the former UCI-sponsored points system from races across the calendar, HTC is leading with 8143 points, with Saxo Bank second at 7,483 and Liquigas third with 7,420.

This season will also mark the third consecutive year HTC-Columbia has led in the running tally of victories. Fueled by successes of ace sprinters Greipel and Mark Cavendish, the team won an astounding 85 times in 2009 and 77 times in 2008. In 2007, before both sprinters hit their stride, the team was fifth on the season with 36 victories.

In 2010, the HTC-Columbia men’s team has also racked up four national time trial championship titles and one national road championship title, including Tony Martin (GER), Frantisek Rabon (CZK), Marco Pinotti (ITA), Martin Velits (SVK) and Aleksejs Saramotins (LAT).

 

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