BMC climbers put to the test at Tour of Austria

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BMC is sending a team to the Tour of Austria "built on climbers" says Team Assistant Director Michael Sayers. The tour presents a number of challengeing stages along the 1,153km route while also giving the sprinters and time trial specialists a chance to shine.

The team is pinning their hopes around three climbers including Brent Brookwater, Steve Morabito - fresh back from a crash in stage two at Tour of California and Ivan Santaromita. Morabito appears confident after joining Cadel Evans on an altitude training camp but is unsure if the 1,670m Kitzbüheler Horn mountaintop finish will be too much for him. This stage will no doubt determine most of the placings in the general classification.

"It's a very steep climb so I hope I don't lose too much against the lighter climbers to make a difference in the time trial" said Morabito.

Marco Pinotti returns to racing following his third-place in the time trial at the Italian national championships. Pinotti won the final time trial at the Giro d'Italia and will be the one to watch during the Tour's 24.1km time trial stage, held on the penultimate day.

Australia’s second-year neo pro, Tim Roe has been included in the eight-man roster and looks to build his form after being prescribed with a lighter program this season. The lightweight climber experienced a difficult end to last season with a hip injury but appears to have recovered sufficiently to race again.

"We have some guys who have something to prove so I'm hoping they step their games up and have a good race" said Sayers.

The Tour of Austria begins on 1 July with 153km circuit race.

Brent Bookwalter (Usa), Yannick Eijssen (Bel), Steve Morabito (Swi), Marco Pinotti (Ita), Tim Roe (Aus), Ivan Santaromita (Ita), Johann Tschopp (Swi), Danilo Wyss (Sui).