A look back at the history of the Hitec Products team

One of the longest-running teams in women’s cycling is Hitec Products. Running at UCI level since 2009, they have kept the same title sponsor throughout, adding additional sponsors where necessary. In 2021, they forged a link with the men’s continental Team Coop team. The Norwegian teams are both based near Stavanger and Sandnes so the link made sense. Coop Norge (for the full title) is a co-operative, running supermarkets and more, not unlike the Co-Op in the UK. Hitec Products makes control systems and process packages for offshore energy and more.

Team Names

Hitec Products has had a number of absolute stars of women’s cycling on their team over the years, giving plenty their first major steps in the women’s peloton. For a Norwegian team, it’s surprising how many of these riders haven’t been local. Some early examples were Lisa Brennauer and Elisa Longo Borghini and whilst Brennauer didn’t set the world alight on the team, Longo Borghini already looked like the star rider we know she is. Longo Borghini took the team’s first win at the highest level at the 2013 Trofeo Alfredo Binda but the team had already tasted plenty of success. Emma Johansson was a major star of the peloton at the start of the 2010s and she took plenty of wins for Hitec Products, particularly in 2011.

Johansson kicked off a run of quality sprinters on the team. Chloe Hosking joined in 2013 when the Swede left to join Orica-AIS and Kirsten Wild replaced Hosking in 2015 when the Aussie joined Wiggle-Honda. Kirsten Wild’s 2016 season in particular was a strong return for Hitec Products winning at the highest level. Wins at the Tour of California and RideLondon Classique were the first time the team had won more than once at the highest level in a season.

The 2014 line-up may be the best combination of riders in hindsight. With a nucleus of Elisa Longo Borghini, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Audrey Cordon-Ragot and Chloe Hosking, it’s a line-up that would put most WWT teams to shame in 2022. The fact that 3 of the 4 riders are now on the Trek-Segafredo team shows how integral they are to the Women’s WorldTour and the role Hitec Products played in their development.

The major Norwegian talent of Susanne Andersen burst onto the scene in 2016 and was a constant contender for races in her Hitec Products seasons before moving to Sunweb. Andersen, Nina Kessler and Charlotte Becker managed to find wins for the team over the next few seasons. Naturalised Norwegian Vita Heine stepped up in 2019 to take the majority of wins that season.

As a British fan, I was excited to see what Lucy van der Haar could do on the team. The former double junior world champion had struggled with injuries and form in her last 2 seasons at Wiggle and Hitec Product could restart her career. A consistent few days at the Tour of Chongming Island saw her take her career-best WWT/CDM result. Obviously, the pandemic hit in 2020 but Van der Haar was able to sneak in a final victory at the Dubai Women’s Tour.

Mieke Kröger’s strong time trialling and track riding brought new success to the team. The first Olympic gold for a Hitec Products rider in the team pursuit and the team’s first world championships in the mixed team relay and the team pursuit.

On that note, the team has had plenty of national champions over the years. It’s a mark of their involvement in Norwegian cycling that Hitec Products has had 7 Norwegian road race champions since 2010 and 6 Norwegian time trial champions.

Notable Former Riders

Biggest Victories