At the 2005 Tour de Suisse, a young CSC rider had his first big moment. Linus Gerdemann, then 22 years-old, won the seventh stage by attacking out of a highly-experienced, six-man breakaway group. Bjarne Riis' model student gave a flash of his talent for the first time in his career as a pro. Björn Scheele believes there's plenty more to come.
Everyone was thrilled, most of all his team manager. For Riis, Gerdemann is the greatest talent since Jan Ullrich. So far so good. But Linus Gerdemann showed that not only his legs can create surprises. His sudden change to T-Mobile this season was totally unexpected to most.
After a mediocre spring, Gerdemann is now getting back into gear and showed great tenacity at the Volta a Catalunya, still relishing his sixth place overall. "In the first quarter of the season, my results didn't really reflect my form," he says. "After Rund um Köln I got very ill. The Volta a Catalunya was pretty important to me because it made me realize that I can actually keep up with the Tour favourites in the mountains."
