CyclistPro team history: WiggleMain image: Elisa Longo Borghini holds off Lucinda Brand to win the 2017 Strade BiancheGoing into the final corner of the opening road stage of the 2013 Route de France, Italian rider Giorgia Bronzini was in third place. Despite a number of attempts by riders to escape, it was clear by the time the 122km stage entered its final lap that a reduced-bunch sprint would decide the podium. With 3.5km remaining, Bronzini asked her Wiggle-Honda teammates to go to work for her.Bronzini was a two-time World Champion and one of the worlds premier sprinters. Put her in a good position with 250m to go and the likelihood was that she would deliver victory. And so it was here.I opened my sprint in the last 150m and I won by a bike length, Bronzini said afterwards. I think maybe [Emma] Johansson was a little bit tired because she only had one teammate with her in the final, so she had to work hard to catch so many breaks. That was good for me because I was fresher than her.It wasnt known at the time but a pattern had been set. In a remarkable turn of events Bronzini would go on to win the next five stages, setting a record in womens stage racing with six consecutive stage victories.It was unbelievable because it was a hard race for me as I was working to do something for Linda [Villumsen, team leader] but I think that when all things are positive you have more power, Bronzini said after her sixth straight win. The girls believe in me and give me more power, so we are the strongest team in the race.The next day Villumsen attacked alone on the descent of the Col de Dun, winning the stage by nearly six minutes.Finally a different person won! laughed sports director Simon Cope. Villumsens stage win also secured the overall win, rounding out a quite remarkable race for the Wiggle-Honda team in what was its debut season. Related Posts Pro team history: Solo Pro team history: Bianchi Pro team history: Kas Pro team history: Carpano Launch of a new eraDream Team Professional Cycling (DTPC) is pleased to be able to unveil the British-registered DTPC Honda Pro Cyclings roster for 2013, ran an announcement on the newly launched teams website on 30th November 2012. Alongside Bronzini and Villumsen, the roster included some of Britains strongest riders, including Joanna Rowsell, Laura Trott and Dani King.Founded by Australian rider Rochelle Gilmore, the team soon attracted online retailer Wiggle as title sponsor alongside Honda. The formal launch in January 2013 made clear that one of the goals of the project was to provide a better-funded and more professional setup for elite women riders.Last year there was one incident that reminded me I needed to take this step, Gilmore said at the launch. The team I was with had the athletes travel from Italy to Belgium. I think it took them 13 hours and they arrived after midnight. The next day they were expected to perform at world-class level and unfortunately for them they didnt. I was a hundred per cent convinced the girls were in top form but they were let down by logistical reasons.Kirsten Wild celebrates victory at the 2018 RideLondon Classique Wiggles 143rd and final win.GettyWiggle-Hondas first victory came when Emily Collins won the Omloop van het Hageland one-day race in March. Bronzini then took a series of wins, including a stage at the Giro, before that six-stage haul in France.The team took 22 wins that season to finish fifth in the UCI rankings. Bronzini, who had told Gilmore at the start of the season she hoped to bag ten wins, ended up with 17.Fast forward to 2015 and the team was firmly established in the peloton but had yet to secure a win at World Cup level (the equivalent of the Womens WorldTour today). That changed with the signings of Jolien Dhoore and Elisa Longo Borghini. Dhoore opened the teams World Cup account by winning the 138km Ronde van Drenthe on her birthday after being perfectly steered to the line by her teammates.I just won a World Cup on my birthday. What else is there? Im happy! Dhoore laughed afterwards. We have three cakes and a bottle of wine I think we have enough.We smashed it at Drenthe, Chloe Hosking added later. We like racing together and we all have confidence in each other.The Tour of Flanders was three weeks later; this time it was Longo Borghini who would claim the win. Before the race Bronzini told her to trust her instincts: Just go when you feel like it, Bronzini said. Longo Borghini attacked with more than 30km to go and built a decisive lead.I saw that I got 30-35 seconds immediately, she said afterwards. I think the girls were just looking at me and thinking, Oh, shes crazy, shell never come to the finish line. When I saw I had one minute I thought for sure I will win this race.The team would secure a further two World Cup wins in 2015 Bronzini winning the Tour of Chongming Island and Dhoore claiming the Open de Sude Vrgrda. It meant that Wiggle Honda had won four out of the nine individual World Cup races on the womens calendar in what was by far their most successful season to date.A change of title sponsorship came in 2016 with the sports nutrition company High5 replacing Honda. With the UCI also launching the Womens WorldTour (WWT) in place of the World Cup it was a season of change. Three WWT victories followed, with Hoskings win on the Champs-lyses at La Course, where she powered to the line after a crash-marred final lap, the pick of the bunch.The following year Longo Borghini added Strade Bianche, hitting the top of the Via Santa Caterina climb at the head of a small break before successfully negotiating the rain-slicked cobbles of Sienas Piazza del Campo to win.This is an important win for me because its one of the most beautiful races in the world, the Italian said afterwards. Im very proud to have honoured the race by racing so hard.Sadly, the team folded at the end of the 2018 season having amassed 143 victories over its six seasons, the last coming courtesy of Kirsten Wild at the 2018 RideLondon Classique.The idea of founding a womens cycling team was to make the most professional environment possible, Gilmore said when announcing the closure. It was those moments when I sat back and saw my athletes happy and enjoying their life, living their dreams, comfortable in their environment, just having a laugh over dinner, that really gave me internal happiness.The post Pro team history: Wiggle appeared first on Cyclist.