Fabian Wegmann plots 2008 in cold of winter

By Susan Westemeyer

Fabian Wegmann says the off-season is going well – except for the weather. The German winter, "which isn't exactly wonderful," is making him alternate his training between the road bike and his mountain bike. The 27 year-old will train at both his home in Freiburg and his childhood home of Münster, before heading off to Team Gerolsteiner's training camp on Mallorca in January.

He already has the first part of his 2008 season planned, opening with the Tour of California and Tirreno-Adriatico. This year he will leave out the Ronde van Vlaanderen, which he rode last year. "It was good, but I would rather ride the Basque Country Tour as preparation for the Spring Classics," he wrote on his website, fabianwegmann.de

His biggest goals in the coming year are the Tour de France and the Beijing Olympics. "I think the course would suit me, at least I like what I have heard about it. But we'll wait and see, it's still a few months off."

After closing the 2006 season with a second place in the Japan Cup, he took a vacation in the sun and then started training again. In between, he also attended the Gerolsteiner team meeting, which he described as a chance to "meet the new team-mates, see the 'old' ones again, test the new material, talk about the planning for the next season and take photos for the new autograph cards and posters."