"The fact that I'm a climber is always at the back of my mind," is 20-year-old Rasmus Guldhammer's simple description of himself as a bike rider.  It's also one of the reasons why Columbia-HTC signed him as a new rider for 2010.

Born in Denmark, Guldhammer discovered he was exceptionally good at riding fast up mountains while on holiday with his parents in Italy one summer.  "I'm tall and skinny so everybody said I should be good at climbing, but back home in Denmark it's pretty flat and it's not easy to find those hills.  Once I found out I could do it, though, I quickly found out how nice it is to go hard up climbs with the rest of the field just clinging on behind, too!"

The rest of the amateur field say they have often witnessed Guldhammer's talent -  the hard way. As American teammate Tejay Van Garderen says, "we've all got used to seeing Rasmus's back wheel on the climbs!"  Last year Guldhammer won in races as challenging as the Under-23 Liege-Bastogne-Liege Classic and the GP Portugal. He also finished fourth in the Tour of Denmark, where he took the Best Young Rider award.