Pendrel, Rochette returning to Luna for 2016 season

Luna Pro Team has announced 2016’s returning riders, and with particular interest for Canadian fans, the lineup of the coming season includes the athletes who made 2015 a bar-raising, commanding year for the U.S.-based squad.

The 2016 roster, of course—the team’s 10th—also includes some brand-new talent.

Along with Czech Katerina Nash, Hannah Rae Finchamp and Georgia Gould of the United States, and from Switzerland, Andrea Waldis, the team in blue are welcoming back Catharine Pendrel and Maghalie Rochette for the 2016 season, two riders whose skill in the saddle were highlights during the last year. Rochette, notably, claimed a stunning solo victory at the 2015 Manitoba Grand Prix of cyclocross in October, while Catharine Pendrel looks back on Albstadt and Vallnord as highlights of her own season—while looking ahead to Rio, too.

Luna signs Eva Lechner! https://t.co/MCKyNA6vil

— LUNA Pro Team (@lunaproteam) January 1, 2016

The season’s newest riders, meanwhile, include Italian Olympian Eva Lechner, a cyclist who has also taken multiple Italian national championships and who joins the ranks of Luna as a cross-country, road and cyclocross specialist in the coming season. In the cross-country world championship relay event of 2013, Lechner also claimed the title, as well as a silver medal at the cyclocross world championships of 2014 and a win at the 2015 edition, too.

Along with Lechner, Haley Batten, the U.S. category one cross-country champion from Utah, will be suiting up in Luna blue for 2016.

Returning riders:

Catharine Pendrel (CAN)
Katerina Nash (CZE)
Georgia Gould (USA)
Maghalie Rochette (CAN)
Andrea Waldis (SWI)
Hannah Rae Finchamp (USA)