Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling today announced that they have signed Swedish Champion Emma Johansson for 2016 and 2017.
Johansson currently rides for Orica-AIS and caught the eye of Wiggle Honda managers as she battled to a top ten place at La Course last weekend, also winning her third Thüringen Rundfahrt title and the Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria one-day race this year.
La Course 2015: Fortitude and Phenomenal Racing from the Female Peloton
She plans to finish her career at the end of the 2016 season, and has her eye on the Rio Olympics as a primary goal, alongside World Cup and Spring Classics races.
Johansson has said: “After 10 years as a professional cyclist and the three previous years with Orica-AIS, I feel I need new challenges. I have learned a lot professionally and personally during these last ten years, and I’m proud of the results I’ve achieved with the support of my teams.
“I plan to stop racing at the highest level of the sport following the 2016 season, and I’m confident that Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling Team is the best place for me to continue to learn and grow, even in my final season, so that I can call close to my career at my very best.
“The 2016 season is an Olympic year, and it’s no secret that Rio is my main goal alongside my typical objectives at the World Cup races and in the Spring Classics. I won a silver medal in Beijing, and I would love to stand on the podium again in Rio”
Team Manager and former pro, Rochelle Gilmore, said: “Emma is a really experienced professional who will bring strength in depth to our team and be an invaluable asset on her own terms, as well as a mentor to the younger team members as they develop their racing experience.”
We spent a day at Wiggle Honda HQ before the women’s tour this year – here’s our write up of the day.