Anyone involved in professional bike racing in North America in the late 1990s to the early 2000s will know the name Giana Roberge, and her notorious reputation as one of the toughest general managers in men's and women's cycling during her tenure under the powerful Team Saturn.
Evaporating from the sport altogether - perhaps uncharacteristically - after Saturn folded in 2004 (aside from a brief stint with team Twenty12), Roberge said goodbye to bike racing and immersed herself in equestrianism with an equal amount of success. But a recent need to move away from the financially-oriented sport of show jumping back into the more merit-based sport of cycling was met with a timely offer from Cylance Pro Cycling owner Omer Kem. It was the call she needed to get back to world-class bike racing as the team's new general manager in 2017.
"Omer remembered me from working with the Saturn men's program and reached out to me, asking if I would be interested in working with his program, Cylance," Roberge told Cyclingews.
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"The timing was right because I was at the point where I wanted to get out of show jumping, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next. There are two things I know; horses and cycling. I feel very grateful that someone was willing to take a risk by hiring me to be part of a new team."
Few, if any, would consider hiring Roberge as a risk. Her credentials make her one of the most experienced team managers and directors in the business. A former bike racer, she competed in the first women's World Cup in Sydney, Australia in 1998, and later directed the former women's team Timex at the same event in 2000.
She took over the women's program almost entirely when Timex and Saturn sponsors formed one team under Tom Schuler's management company, Team Sports, Inc. She directed Team Saturn for four seasons and through their transition under title sponsor Quark.
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via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/giana-roberge-back-in-the-thick-of-world-class-cycling
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