On the hilly parcours of the Clasica Almeria, a one day-race totaling 173,4 km with start and finish in the Southern Spanish city of Almeria, the peloton will face three Cat. 3 climbs next Sunday. While T-Mobile's directeurs sportifs figure that the conditions are ideal for a breakaway's victory - just like last year, when French Jerome Pineau took the sprint of an escape group - team Gerolsteiner takes the view that the race should end in a bunch sprint. "It's a terrain that suits Danilo Hondo," said Gerolsteiner's DS Raimund Dietzen. "We have to see to it that the race finishes in a sprint, if our riders can't manage to breakaway in the right group."
A team of eight will start for Gerolsteiner in Almeria, but T-Mobile will only have five riders taking part. "Initially, we had considered Tobias Steinhauser and Paco Lara," said T-Mobile Team spokesman Luuc Eisenga. "However, Tobias hasn't recovered from his flu and Paco crashed at the Tour of Valencia. His injuries aren't too bad, but a start at Almeria isn't an option yet."
