Team Garmin-Cervélo earlier today announced that Alex Rasmussen has signed a contract with the team. Rasmussen is currently riding for Team HTC-HighRoad but will be riding for Team Garmin-Cervelo in the 2012 season.

Rasmussen won the 2011 Philadelphia International Cycling Championship and is Olympic silver medalist, former Danish national road cycling champion and four-time track world champion.

Rasmussen is acquired by the team in order to improve the team's power in the sprint finals where the team's sprinter ace Tyler Farrar is lacking support - not least after it was announced yesterday that Thor Hushovd is leaving the team, heading for Team BMC Racing.

"Alex is a great talent and we're very excited to bring him to our team in 2012," CEO of Slipstream Sports Jonathan Vaughters commented about the signing of Rasmussen.

"He has proven that he is a versatile rider. He's obviously gifted on the track and he has translated that to the road. He is great in (sprint) lead-outs, he is an exceptional time trialist, and he is developing into a great Classics rider. He'll be a strong addition and we look forward to working with him next year," Vaughters added.