German T-Mobile Team has announced its line-up for Paris-Roubaix next Sunday, where it will be counting on 2002 second-placed Steffen Wesemann for the victory. However, Wesemann’s build-up has been far from perfect: A viral infection forced the 35 year-old to miss out on this week's Belgian classics, the Tour of Flanders and Gent- Wevelgem.
Instead of racing, Wesemann has been training at his home in Switzerland. "It was better for Steffen to stay at home and get himself fully fit for Paris- Roubaix," said T-Mobile directeur sportif Valerio Piva, who added that 'Wese' is over "the breathing difficulties that have been holding him back."
Wesemann is scheduled to link up with his teammates in France on Friday. Joining him on the mythical race from Compiègne to Roubaix in France's bleak North-East are Andreas Klier, Sergey Ivanov, Stephan Schreck, Marcus Burghardt and Andre Greipel, as well as Dutchman Bram Schmitz and Italian Lorenzo Bernucci, who were both injured at last Sunday's 'Ronde', but have recovered enough to face the cruel demands of the 'Hell of the North'.
"Our medical team has doing great work," said Piva. "It was pre-scheduled that Lorenzo would abandon Gent-Wevelgem early. He badly gashed his shin when he took a spill at the Tour of Flanders. Bram has been experiencing back pain since Flanders, so with one eye on Paris Roubaix, we decided to make him rest on Wednesday."
The full T-Mobile roster at Paris Roubaix will be: Lorenzo Bernucci, Marcus Burghardt, André Greipel, Sergey Ivanov, Andreas Klier, Bram Schmitz, Stephan Schreck and Steffen Wesemann.
