Emma Johansson joins Team Orica-GreenEdge
Emma Johansson has confirmed about her future team and the Swede will now be seen with the Australian outfit, Team Orica-GreenEdge for the season ahead.
The news was confirmed by the cyclist herself as she expects to be one of the team leaders and will fill in for Judith Arndt after the world time trial champion announced her retirement.
Emma told Eurosport.se, "It will be really exciting. I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to drive for a big team”.
“This is a dream I had and it was time for a change. A place opened up in the squad when Judith Arndt left after the season and they wanted someone with experience. I will be one of the leaders".
"Green Edge has a solid foundation to stand on, with the men's team, and they work closely with the Cycling Australia. It's really professional".
Several teams were interested to hire the 29-year-old including the Dutch side, Team Dolmans-Boels who also signed Lucy Martin and Lizzy Armitstead but she preferred the Australian outfit to continue her professional endeavours.
Johansson marked her professional debut with Team Bizkaia Panda software Durango in 2005 and stayed with the team by the end of 2006 season.
The cyclist spent a year each with Team Vlaanderen–Capri Sonne–T-Interim (2007) and Team AA-Drink Cycling (2008) before accepting a two year offer from Team RedSun Cycling for 2009-10 seasons.
She joined Team Hitec Products-UCK in 2011 and helped the team with her outstanding performances during the 2011-12 seasons.
Emma claimed a silver medal during the 2008 Olympic Games and is ranked amongst the top cyclists around the world.
She could only secure one world cup round, which was back in 2009 Ronde van Drenthe but she also holds the honour of finishing second during the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and La Fleche Wallonne twice.
Johansson is having an outstanding 2012 season with several top performances to herself including first place finishes at the Swedish National Road Championships, both road race and time trials event.
She bagged one stage and an overall victory at the Tour de Free State, second overall at the Emakumeen Bira, fifth overall at the Giro Donne and occupied the sixth overall position at the Olympic Road Race Event in London this year.
It will be interesting to see if Emma manages to find the right momentum in the 2013 early on to help the new team with the start they expect from the current Swedish National Champion.
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