In 2009, the Columbia-HTC's men's team earned victories by 15 different riders, and it's fair to say new Columbia-HTC rider Lars Bak of Denmark has already taken some major successes of his own. As Bak puts it, "One thing I've always liked about Columbia-HTC is you can see everybody gets a chance to win.  Signing with Columbia-HTC was one opportunity I just didn't want to let go by."

In his early days as a pro, Bak clinched the prestigious Tour de L'Avenir stage race, and since then he's earned Danish National Time Trial Champion three times in a row.  "The best of the three victories was in 2009," Bak says.  "I didn't know until 100 metres from the line that I had won.  It was a very close, dramatic race, pure suffering, and then at the end I could start celebrating even before I crossed the line."  For Bak, the key to good time trialing is "not to panic early on and overcook it.  If you keep a steady, strong pace, and you don't go in too deep, then you're on the right track.  I've got the right kind of motor for it, too: I can't accelerate fast, so don't ask me to win a sprint.  I'm more a diesel engine, and once I get going I can keep going steady for miles and miles."

But Bak's talents aren't limited to time-trialing. He's won top Classics like Paris-Bourges, and in 2009's Eneco Tour he pulled away in spectacular style from a day-long break to win the race's toughest stage. True to his word, he didn't want to wait for a sprint.  "Lars is the kind of rider who won't win 10 races a year, but he's always there in the mix," comments Columbia-HTC's Danish sports director, Brian Holm.  "Lars is a great team player. He really gets stuck into helping his teammates if he feels they've a better chance to win, and that's something we appreciate a lot in our team."