UnitedHealthcare names directors for 2014 squad
The U.S.-based team earned 40 wins and 211 top-10s this season
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Mike Tamayo will return for his eighth season as the general manager and team director of UnitedHealthcare next season, the team announced this week.
Tamayo will be joined by Hendrik Redant, who returns for a fourth year at the helm of the roster made up of 23 men and 12 women.
Two more directors — Roberto Damiani, who did some work with the team this season, and Rachel Heal, who previously was the director for Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies — join the squad.
UnitedHealthcare is hoping to maintain the momentum it picked up this season, in which it grabbed 40 wins, 99 podiums, and 211 top-10s. A women’s team was added to the squad for next year.
“Mike, Hendrik and Rachel are very good,” Damiani said in a press release. “This is a very smart and a great group of directors to work with. The team is strong and well structured. It is a first class operation and I am looking forward to helping the team grow in Europe while working together with everyone to compete for the win in all races this season.”
Heal spent eight years racing, which included competing at the 2004 Olympics, the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games, and seven world championships. She will direct both the men’s and women’s teams moving forward.
“This is a great group of women that has been put together for 2014,” Heal said. “We have a good mix of riders with both youth and experience. Each rider has very different strengths and personalities. I’m confident this is a group capable of winning any race it enters.”
