The Tour is over, long live the Tour...as soon as the 2006 edition is over, Gerolsteiner's team manager Hans-Michael Holczer is starting to think about the Tour 2007. Levi Leipheimer, who rode a comparatively weak Tour, barely figures in the team's wrap-up, but that may also have something to do with his departure to Discovery. "Markus Fothen has shown that he is the man for the future," declared Holczer.
Fothen, who narrowly missed winning the white jersey for the best young rider, was the main character in Gerolsteiner's Tour review. "It shows that we have good young riders in Germany. And especially Markus," said Holczer. "Markus just needs to get experience with the Grand Tours." And to accomplish that, "At his own request, he will ride the Vuelta a España."
