Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

Newport Beach, Calif. — The man who helped lead the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team in its first two seasons is saying goodbye.

Harm Jansen, 39, will direct his final race for Toyota-United at the World Criterium Championships in Las Vegas on Thursday, Sept. 27. He has been with the team since its founding in 2005 and served as co-director with Frankie Andreu in 2006 and Kirk Willett in 2007. For the past 18 years, Jansen has been involved in pro cycling as a competitor, coach and team director.

“This has been a very difficult decision because my heart is with cycling, but it is time to move on,” Jansen said. “These are two years I will obviously not forget. I was fortunate to be in a position to build this team to where it is today and I feel fortunate to have several choices of what I will do next.”

Toyota-United Team Owner Sean P. Tucker said Jansen’s contributions to building and growing the team would not soon be forgotten.

“He has been part of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team since the early days of its existence in 2005,” Tucker said. “His commitment to the program made the team an instant success and a force on the domestic circuit.”

Under Jansen’s guidance, Toyota-United won 92 races, including 55 in its inaugural season. The team also captured stage wins at all three of the “grand tours” in the United States in 2007 (the Amgen Tour of California, the Tour de Georgia and the Tour of Missouri), as well as three stage victories in both grand tours in 2006 (Amgen Tour of California and Tour de Georgia).

Jansen said being a team director helped him appreciate what a good staff can do for a cycling team.

“It’s something that is highly underestimated,” he said. “I had seen it from a bit of a distance as a rider, but witnessing it up close as a director made me fully understand their importance. I was fortunate to have been able to choose from so many talented athletes and to be around such a good group of personalities – both staff and riders.”

Jansen is a former Dutch National Champion and the 2001 USPRO Champion who won more than 180 races during his career. He completed his thesis at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and has a masters degree from the Civil Engineering and Geosciences faculty (graduating cum laude) at the Delft University of Technology (DUT) in The Netherlands. He lives with his wife, Amy, and son, Nico, in Los Angeles.