Teams Gerolsteiner and Volksbank are looking forward to the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe this week, a four-day race over 666.2 kilometres. The German ProTour team hopes to repeat its past successes in the race. Sprinter Robert Förster, who won the sprinter's jersey in the race last year, will lead the team. He will have support by, among others, Markus Zberg, who finished ninth overall last year. Stefan Schumacher, who is not riding the race this year, won it in 2006 with the tightest of margins, being equal on time with runner-up Serguei Gonchar.
The Austrian Professional Continental Team Volksbank noted that the race consists of 16 teams with six riders each. "That will be exciting, because unlike races with eight starters, the race can't be controlled by the top teams," said Directeur Sportif Gregor Gut. The team will go for stage wins, with Andreas Dietziker looking to the nine-kilometre time trial.
