WorldTour Ranking: 13 (same as 2014)
Win Count: 20 (Up from 19 in 2014)
Top Riders: Bauke Mollema (22nd), Giacomo Nizzolo (56), Fabio Felline (62), Fabian Cancellara (67)
The Trek Factory Racing team still has not managed to establish itself as a force in the peloton, and for the second year in a row it looked mainly to the soon-to-be-retired Swiss star Fabian Cancellara to carry the weight of expectation. But Cancellara crashed and fractured vertebrae twice this year, spending a massive 14 weeks out of competition during the season. Despite his bad luck, Cancellara remained one of the bright spots for the team, winning a stage in the Tour of Oman and holding the race lead for two stages, and taking out the time trial in Tirreno-Adriatico before his crash in the E3 Harelbeke derailed his Classics campaign.
Cancellara returned to top form in time for the Tour de France and used his well-honed skills in the Northern European crosswinds to make the split on stage 2 to Neeltje Jans and don the maillot jaune - bringing his career total for days leading the Tour to a whopping 29. Cancellara's fortunes quickly changed, however, and a crash on the road to Huy the next day forced him to struggle well behind the race to reach the finish line. He lost the race lead to Chris Froome that day, and overnight discovered he had fractured different bones in his back and abandoned the race. He remains the rider with the most days in the yellow jersey who has not won the overall Tour, though that is little consolation to his Trek Factory Racing team.
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Luckily, manager Luca Guercilena had the foresight to bring Bauke Mollema into the team this year from the former Belkin squad. The Dutch rider was largely responsible for the team making it to 13th in the WorldTour rankings - equal to last year - with his seventh place overall in the Tour de France, stage wins in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and Tirreno-Adriatico, and a second place overall in Tirreno.
Mollema's performance in the Tour de France was nothing if not consistent. Although he was caught out in the crosswind on stage 2 and lost 1:28 along with several other GC contenders, he was there or thereabouts throughout the difficult final week and held onto his top-10 place overall - though he was 15:14 behind Froome in the GC.
Trek's victory in the Tour of Alberta team time trial was another bright spot in the year, and it helped Mollema to win the overall. He was denied an individual stage win, however, being twice outsprinted by compatriot Tom-Jelte Slagter. Mollema closed the season with a victory in the Japan Cup Cycle Road Race.
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